Crown

F1 races on back-to-back weekends

The controversy over team orders at Hockenheim is still rumbling on but we have another race to (hopefully) enjoy

It seems to me like we have the following pecking order at the moment:

- Red Bull and Ferrari at the front
- McLaren chasing close behind
- Then Renault and Mercedes in the next chasing group
- Then a group of Williams, Sauber, Toro Rosso and Force India
- Then finally a group of backmarkers made up of Lotus, Virgin Racing and HRT

So I expect it will be another close battle at the front between Red Bull and Ferrari with McLaren close behind.

Let's see what other scandal and controversy happens on or off the track

 
RT Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

Interesting predictions for the cars that will be more suited to certain tracks in the remainder of 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8856231.stm

 
RT Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

Now Hungary? Poor Teflonso, the British press was short of lynching him after what happened in Hockenheim and now they are going to remember him what happened there in 2007 as well.

I haven't seen any major criticism of Alonso about what he did on the track in Hockenheim. Some people have been saying it was arrogant of him to say "This is ridiculous" when he couldn't get past Massa. But that's about it.

The other (mild) criticism has been about Alonso trying to pretend that there were no team orders being implemented.

AFAIK the massive controversy (both in favour and against) on team orders has revolved around Ferrari team management i.e. Stefano Domenicali, Luca Colajanni, LDM et al. Alonso has not been the focus of attention in that respect.

Anyway, let's get back on topic - this thread is about the Hungarian GP not the German GP 

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RT Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

easy_rider911:

I haven't seen any major criticism of Alonso about what he did on the track in Hockenheim.

Check this out, specifically the 'Questions from the floor' part:

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2010/Pages/f1_conf_ger4.aspx

Now we can 'go back on topic', but don't have any doubt about the fact that until new controversies appear during the Hungarian GP (and they will appear, no doubt about it) everything the press, especially the press from England, is going to care about is this.

Thanks for the link gangajas

Reading it, most of the questioning of FA was to enquire his viewpoint about the issue surrounding him but not FA's conduct itself.

I think the only 2 journalists who were disrespectful were Byron Young (Daily Mirror) and Ian Parkes (Press Association). They aren't representative of the UK media as a whole.

 
RT Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

Friday Practice laptimes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/results/8499265.stm

As I thought, it's Red Bull and Ferrari at the front

 
RT Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

Quite surprising to see such them so far ahead again, as this season has seen quite a few changes in performance among the teams so far. Could it be due to that infamously adjustable frontwing that Red Bull and Ferrari are said to be using?

What a load of empty words from Sig. Domenicali

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85698

"Form follows function"

Vettel again fast qualifying lap, but I'm sure he'll find a way to quickly lose P1 again. 

What a poor performance by Michael Schumacher again, anyone still believing he can come back to the top?

Yes, I believe MS can come back to fight for the title, obviously next year, but only if they let him have a saying in the design process of the car. MS is the type of guy that shines as the Leader of the team. He was like that even in the past. I remember when he was making mistakes being under pressure in a race from Mika Hakkinen. If he feels in control he is the best. If not.... he struggles.

Also I truly believe that with today's level of performance and competition, the drivers are very close together as talent and training and experience, etc. The car, tires, team management, race management and so on are VERY important these days. And I think Michael struggles not only with the car but also with some of the people inside the team.

At least that is the only logical explanation I can think of. It's not one thing going badly. There are many bad things simultaneously going wrong for him right now. Looks like a plane crash. One thing going wrong doesn't put the plane on the ground... only many things happening at once...

There is no try. Just do.

Rosberg has routinely outqualified and outperformed (in the race) Schumi in the same car. There comes a time when blaming the equipment is no longer enough to overcome the voices that are saying he is 'past it' and 'not the same driver'.

IMHO he was one of the greatest ever BUT he has gone soft in retirement and I would not expect that form to return.

 
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Eunice:
What a race by Webber, lucky for him he got forced into the perfect strategy, and he really made the most out if it.
this time, vettel got a penalty for being altruistic and trying to give webber the gap he needs for his pit stop.
Schumacher should get a penalty for dangerous driving against barichello, and the team for the loose tyre.

I'm not so sure that Vettel was being altruistic. He said himself in the post-race interview that he was "asleep" at the critical point because he didn't expect the safety car to pull in until the next lap.

Schumacher lived up to the bad side of his reputation again and deserves a severe penalty. That could so easily have ended tragically and was absolutely unnecessary. 

fritz

Well done Mark Webber - perfect race from him

I'm surprised by Vettel's error - leaving a huge gap to the safety car - he says he didn't see the flashing lights on the safety car switch off - he says he thought there was 1 more lap behind the safety car - costly mistake for him.

Schumi was outrageous today - You can't drive another driver towards a wall when you are side by side. Luckily, the wall ended (and Rubens could use the pit lane exit road to run wide) otherwise there could have been a horrific crash.

Schumi deserves a serious penalty for dangerous driving. And then after the race, Schumi's explanation was ridiculous, blaming Rubens.

Mercedes needs Schumi - so the question of sacking him never arises - but any other driver in another team performing the way Schumi has done this season would have been fired a long time ago.

 
RT Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

Unbelievable manoeuvre by MS.

He should get disqualified for this race and banned for the next one. Barichello was lucky he didn't touch the pit wall, could have led to a disastrous accident.

And poor behaviour of Vettel again after the race. Instead of admitting that he just overslept the restart, it was of course everybody else's mistake.

Poor sportmanship from both German drivers and even highly dangerous behaviour in case of Schumacher. Glad for Webber and Alonso though.

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

McLaren was really struggling - their car was not competitive at this track.

It was unbelievable that Renault released Kubica into Sutil's path. The Renault lolly-pop man made a huge error.

I feel sorry for Rosberg - he was having a great race until the insecure wheel issue happened. That was a bad mistake by the Mercedes pit crew.

Apart from Webber and Alonso who both had very strong races - my drivers of the day were Petrov, Kobayashi and Hulkenberg - these new guys did really well today 

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RT Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

easy_rider911:

Mercedes needs Schumi - so the question of sacking him never arises - but any other driver in another team performing the way Schumi has done this season would have been fired a long time ago.

Nevertheless, I would not be in the least bit surprised if he does not complete the season. 

His act today might well result in so much crticism that he could go by his own choice.

David Coulthard got it right when he said today that Schumacher could have used his "second" F1 career to improve on the reputation he left behind after his first one, but that is action today had ruined that chance. 

fritz

easy_rider911:

Apart from Webber and Alonso who both had very strong races - my drivers of the day were Petrov, Kobayashi and Hulkenberg - these new guys did really well today 

And then there is Barichello who kept his nerve when it really mattered ..............and was also still pretty cool in his post-race interview with the BBC reporters. 

fritz

Rossi:

Unbelievable manoeuvre by MS.

He should get disqualified for this race and banned for the next one. Barichello was lucky he didn't touch the pit wall, could have led to a disastrous accident.

And poor behaviour of Vettel again after the race. Instead of admitting that he just overslept the restart, it was of course everybody else's mistake.

x2 

But Schumacher was adamant that he had done nothing wrong.

"We know certain drivers have certain views and then there is Rubens," said Schumacher, speaking to the BBC.

"As a driver, you have the ability to change the line once. That's what I was driving to. Obviously there was space enough to go through [because he did]. We didn't touch, so I guess I just left enough space for him to come through.

sure, plenty of space against a wall at 300km/h 

What a race from MW!!!

One week ago I stated him as an "good, but no outreagous driver", I have to correct my opinion, that was simple just perfect driving at it's best.

SV again made mistakes, and whilst being very fast, he will (hopefully) not make it...

MS should get a punishment for his driving style, like a 5 place penalty for the next qualifying in Spa, THIS was just unfair and risky, he has to be taken responsible.

Poor LH, RK & NR, but anyway neither one of them would have classifyied better than 5th

Under the given circumstances I see nobody avoiding a walkthrough of the Bulls, hoping for MW haven the better end and the team letting him winning the championship!

I haven't watched a replay after the race, but the way I saw it was that RB whilst behind MS tried to squeeze through a narrow space between the Mercedes and the wall. So it was at his own risk.

MS had worn tyres and brake problems, so RB could have been more patient IMO, because it was a matter of time to get passed. I don't think he had a chance of progressing beyond 10th anyway, so why the rush?

The way I see it was that little Rubihno saw a great opportunity to take revenge and at the same time incriminate his old team leader.

Inferiority complex in all its magnificence.

"Form follows function"

reginos:

Inferiority complex in all its magnificence.

Oh, come on...
 

Another point is that all the F1 "also runs" and failures like Coulthard, Brundle etc have a habit of knocking MS.

It's very sad when you have been so inferior in results to express opinions on a F1 legend, because it will inevitably be conceived as "sour grapes".

If Lauda or Prost or Hakkinen had a word to say I would gladly listen to them.

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"Form follows function"

Ferdie:

reginos:

Inferiority complex in all its magnificence.

Oh, come on...
 

You have any doubt as to the little man's motives?

"Form follows function"

reginos:

I haven't watched a replay after the race, but the way I saw it was that RB whilst behind MS tried to squeeze through a narrow space between the Mercedes and the wall. So it was at his own risk.

MS had worn tyres and brake problems, so RB could have been more patient IMO, because it was a matter of time to get passed. I don't think he had a chance of progressing beyond 10th anyway, so why the rush?

The way I see it was that little Rubihno saw a great opportunity to take revenge and at the same time incriminate his old team leader.

Inferiority complex in all its magnificence.

Reginos, you really need to watch the replay... by the time MS closes the space against the wall, Rubens had nowere to go and was at 300km/h an inch away from the wall, it was both absolutely deliberate and reckless by MS. For a guy who's performance is "consistantly" mediocre to say the least, on top of it he takes the liberty to pull maneuver's like this?  the sport is better off with him retired and his car with a better & cleaner driver.

Schumacher got 10 place grid penalty on next GP BTW: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85799

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reginos:

I haven't watched a replay after the race, but the way I saw it was that RB whilst behind MS tried to squeeze through a narrow space between the Mercedes and the wall. So it was at his own risk.

MS had worn tyres and brake problems, so RB could have been more patient IMO, because it was a matter of time to get passed. I don't think he had a chance of progressing beyond 10th anyway, so why the rush?

The way I see it was that little Rubihno saw a great opportunity to take revenge and at the same time incriminate his old team leader.

Inferiority complex in all its magnificence.

"Could have been more patient? Why the rush?"

You do know it was supposed to be a motor race, right?  

I doubt that Barichello needs to incriminate Schumacher. He did that himself in a BBC interview after the race in which he effectively said that he was just trying to tell Barichello that he should go around the other side by closing the door on him. When you do watch a replay then you'll see that Schumacher twitched to the right when Barichello was already alongside him in one of the most deliberately dangerous moves I have seen in many years of watching F1 races. 

The fact that Barichello was 3 seconds a lap faster than Schumacher after getting past him tells its own story.

fritz

To be fair I'm not sure. But the camera switches from the front to the rear at the crucial moment and leaves an element of uncertainty.

But MS's right side wheels were almost on the white line when RB tried to squeeze between the white line and the wall. True the Mercedes moved to the right but smoothly rather than abruptly. I see it as a movement of the car out of its track, rather than deliberate blocking maneuver. Cars are not on rails so they can move a little especially when their brakes and tyres are not in top condition and RB should have known it when making this bold move.

RB's ambition wouldn't go beyond P10, and MS's ailing car  would be overtaken anyway in a lap or two , so no need to be impatient and risky.

It was an exciting racing instant and Rubihno shouldn't make all this fuss IMO.

Football is already suffering a lot with the continuous replay and  debate of instances. Let's not transplant this mentality to motor sport.

"Form follows function"

MS penalised for impeding a competitor. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/8/11113.html

Overall a Red Bull walk in the park. The Ferraris (Alonso in particular) drove a brilliant race  considering the equipment in hand. Hopefully, Spa and Monza will be happier hunting grounds for the Scuderia. 

Cheers.

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FERRARI RULES!!!

For the benefit of those who might not have been able to see the race:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8875352.stm 

fritz