2011 Formula 1 Discussion Thread

[Autotelik]

Any F1 fans out there? The new season is upon us, with Australia hosting the first race this year due to Bahrain's cancellation (or postponement, to be determined). I'm so pumped for this season. Last year was absolutely epic, with the season title up for grabs between 4 drivers in the very last race. I'm bummed that Mark Webber didn't win it all last year, but his team-mate Vettel did drive very well. As long as Alonso didn't win last year, I was happy. He's a very talented driver, of course, but Ferrari's team-orders were so blatant in Germany, you had to feel sorry for Felipe Massa getting shafted - basically mid-race he was in 1st position and Alonso in 2nd, and Ferrari was heard on the radio giving Massa a not-so-cryptic message to let Alonso pass him, because Alonso was already far ahead in the drivers point standings it would be of greatest benefit for Ferrari to back him as their favored driver.

Anyway, this year's buzz:
Who are the top teams this year? Early buzz seems to favor Red Bull and Ferrari as the top 2, with perhaps Mercedes inching up the ladder over McLaren. And if Mercedes does better, will Schumacher also improve over last year's disappointing comeback performance?
How will the new Pirelli tyres do? Bridgestone is gone as the supplier after 13 yrs.
Team orders are fair game again- not like they were ever truly gone. But I guess now that they are openly permitted, teams can be a bit more blatant in using them to favor a particular driver.
India is on the calendar as a new race venue. We'll see how the circuit fares. Last year, Korea's debut was marred by heavy rain, with absolutely appalling race conditions and a good 1/3 of the race ran behind the safety car because it was so wet. Hopefully this year it will be dry there, because the circuit design promises some excitement.
And this year, the season finale moves back to Brazil. That should make for a more exciting season-ending race, as the circuit lends itself to more overtaking than the Abu Dhabi track which hosted the season's finale last year.

Also, I'm seriously considering going to the Montreal race this year. It will be my first F1 event. It's going to be costly to get a good seat in the better grandstands, but I think it will be worth it.

Here's last year's final season results:
Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
1 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 256
2 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 252
3 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 242
4 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 240
5 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 214
6 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 144
7 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes GP 142
8 Robert Kubica Polish Renault 136
9 Michael Schumacher German Mercedes GP 72
10 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Williams-Cosworth 47
11 Adrian Sutil German Force India-Mercedes 47
12 Kamui Kobayashi Japanese BMW Sauber-Ferrari 32
13 Vitaly Petrov Russian Renault 27
14 Nico Hulkenberg German Williams-Cosworth 22
15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Italian Force India-Mercedes 21
16 Sebastien Buemi Swiss STR-Ferrari 8
17 Pedro de la Rosa Spanish BMW Sauber-Ferrari 6
18 Nick Heidfeld German BMW Sauber-Ferrari 6
19 Jaime Alguersuari Spanish STR-Ferrari 5
20 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Lotus-Cosworth 0
21 Jarno Trulli Italian Lotus-Cosworth 0
22 Karun Chandhok Indian HRT-Cosworth 0
23 Bruno Senna Brazilian HRT-Cosworth 0
24 Lucas di Grassi Brazilian Virgin-Cosworth 0
25 Timo Glock German Virgin-Cosworth 0
26 Sakon Yamamoto Japanese HRT-Cosworth 0
27 Christian Klien Austrian HRT-Cosworth 0


This year's starting drivers (pic from Formula1.com)


A compilation video that I found of last season's highlights, using the same BBC Outtro song at the end of their last race coverage, but re-edited with other footage. Awesome stuff.


At about 2m23s in, you'll see the crazy Mark Webber crash in the Valencia race last year. When I saw it on TV, my jaw just dropped and I was in total shock... and in a split second, hoped he didn't sustain any critical injuries. Amazing he could walk away from that.

[BadlyDrawnBoy]

GTFI!

You beauty.

Can't wait!

[BadlyDrawnBoy]

For Montreal, I love Grandstand 11/12 - My fave, and I've been in most, if you want more info feel free to email me, I think I've been to 4 or 5 of them.
and I have a friend who goes every year with a big crew, they drink too much during the race for my liking, but I can hook you up with him if you are interested.

He lives in Montreal

[Autotelik]

I was definitely eyeing Grandstand 11- got recs from a F1 blog site. Can you see parts of the pit-straight from GS 11? I looked at the circuit diagram with the Grandstands for Montreal, and it looks like you could see the start/finish line, the pits, a nice hairpin, and exit. Also, any major differences between GS 11 and 12? Man I'm so excited about this season. The next weekend can't get here soon enough!! Once I can secure some time off from work in June, I'll be going FOR SURE!


edit: Hmm... found some spectator videos on youtube from grandstand 11, and 12... looks like there's a tree blocking the view from GS 11 as the cars approach the hairpin. The view from 12 looks a bit better.

[adrenaline78]

I like f1.. but the lack of on track passing is kinda blah. I root for Button, but couldn't help rooting for Schumacher this past season and will as well this year.


It's a shame that Nico Hulkenburg isn't a part of F1 this season.

[BadlyDrawnBoy]

It really depends on where you end up sitting on the grandstand.

for 11 you can see the cars for the most part coming off the pit straight, and through the corner, also means you can see them exiting the pits.

in 12 you see them coming around that corner, and going off into the distance, again depending on exactly where you sit.

I've also done the hairpin, and General Admission.

[adrenaline78]

I just noticed that Kubica is not listed.. what the heck happened there?

[Superman07]

Originally Posted by adrenaline78

I just noticed that Kubica is not listed.. what the heck happened there?

Umm...massive rally crash. He badly damaged his hand/arm and leg. He'll likely be out for the season at a minimum.

Btw, HD this year!

[Superman07]

Originally Posted by adrenaline78

It's a shame that Nico Hulkenburg isn't a part of F1 this season.

Agree - I thought he improved as the year went on last season. That, coupled with his performance at Brazil makes it worse he couldn't stay with Williams.

Originally Posted by BadlyDrawnBoy

It really depends on where you end up sitting on the grandstand.

for 11 you can see the cars for the most part coming off the pit straight, and through the corner, also means you can see them exiting the pits.

in 12 you see them coming around that corner, and going off into the distance, again depending on exactly where you sit.

I've also done the hairpin, and General Admission.

We went a few years ago and sat in 22. You had a nice view of the hairpin, but could only see the cars for so long before they got to the turn/pit entrance. On the plus side we did get to see the Kubica crash (glad he was okay!). However, if/when we go back I'd like to try something different - maybe 11/12 or 31.

[trespoochies]

Eagerly waiting for the F1 racetrack to be built here in Austin. I live 20 minutes away from the site.

[adrenaline78]

Originally Posted by Superman07

Umm...massive rally crash. He badly damaged his hand/arm and leg. He'll likely be out for the season at a minimum.

Btw, HD this year!

Bummer. I had no idea.

[Autotelik]

Anyone watched qualifying yet?

Spoiler:

Damn Vettel just left everyone else in the dust. He didn't even use KERS for his fastest lap. That's too bad, because I really want Webber to win it all this year. McLaren must be happy with their performance, because the pre-season testing didn't really suggest they would be ahead of Ferrari or even Mercedes GP. Of course it's too early to count out Ferrari yet, because Alonso managed to push himself strongly into contention in the 2nd half of the season last year. Kobayashi was stunning in the Sauber- put him in a top-tier car and I'm sure he'll get a few podiums. Really disappointing that Kubica can't drive for Renault this year, because it looks like they have a very strong car- Petrov qualified well, and he was behind Kubica last year. As for Schumacher? I think it's not a big surprise that he was out-qualified again by his team-mate, but I think the more disappointing thing for Mercedes GP is that they didn't qualify in the top 5.

For tomorrow, I expect Hamilton to try to take Vettel in the first corner, and Vettel to defend pretty aggressively when the lights go out. Should be a good start.

[BigDaddy]

Originally Posted by trespoochies

Eagerly waiting for the F1 racetrack to be built here in Austin. I live 20 minutes away from the site.

Pretty hyped as well. Seemed like a pipe dream when it was first announced.

[Autotelik]

And I just purchased my Montreal race tickets. Had to call in to get them because the options left online sucked. Wanted Grandstand 11, but basically the only ones left there were in the far right (section 9) which is way way away from the turn. I went with Grandstand 12 section 3 instead, kind of near the middle of that stand (and not too close to that white building which would block some of the view?).

So excited!

[Cory02]

Great result for McLaren, especially since they had to scrap their diffuser and exhaust setup and start over since the last test. Interesting to see what's going on with Red Bull and their KERS system (perhaps the much-rumored start-only system?).

I'm an engineer and I've always love the technology of F1 and this year is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting in that respect. A lot of unique designs up and down the pit lane. I think the extreme lowline gearbox that Williams is using is beautiful but has been mostly lost with all the attention given to exhaust systems.

[astrochimp]

Nice podium finish for Petrov.

[BadlyDrawnBoy]

Vettell looked very strong. the tire situation is a little crazy.

Alonso had a good race, hampered by his poor start, got boxed out.

Massa - well massa.

Perez looked great, but then the Saubers were DQ'd

[Autotelik]

Vettel was just too good. He is finally converting those poles to wins, compared to the first half of last year where he would screw up regularly. Too bad for Mark. Great podium by Petrov. Amazing 1-pit race by Perez, but too bad about the DQ.

Malaysia in 2 weeks!

[Autotelik]

..... and we're at race #2 of the year this weekend. It's the Malaysia F1 GP. Looks like thunderstorms are expected, and we'll see if Sebastial Vettel and Red Bull can maintain their dominance. Practice 1 has just concluded. Kind of interesting also to see if HRT can improve. Ridiculously lousy performance in Australia, with missing out on a start due to the 107% rule.

Top 10 Drivers' Standings so far
1 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 25
2 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 18
3 Vitaly Petrov Russian Renault 15
4 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 12
5 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 10
6 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 8
7 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 6
8 Sebastien Buemi Swiss STR-Ferrari 4
9 Adrian Sutil German Force India-Mercedes 2
10 Paul di Resta British Force India-Mercedes 1


Constructor standings:
1 RBR-Renault 35
2 McLaren-Mercedes 26
3 Ferrari 18
4 Renault 15
5 STR-Ferrari 4
6 Force India-Mercedes 3
7 Lotus-Renault 0
8 Virgin-Cosworth 0
9 Sauber-Ferrari 0
10 Williams-Cosworth 0
11 Mercedes 0
12 HRT-Cosworth 0

[Autotelik]

Some pics (just caps from TV coverage) to liven things up a bit.

The circuit:


Aerial shot:


Qualifying results:

Spoiler:

The man on pole:

Spoiler:

So no rain so far for the first two days. Just humid and sweltering heat (> 100oF) on the track. Interesting to really see McLaren step it up big, and for a while there, really made us think they were going to take pole. But Vettel once again pulls out an amazing last flying lap in Q3 to take pole, just edging out Hamilton. Also thought that Webber had a chance to take pole too, with the fastest times in the first two sectors in Q3 at the end but apparently gave up some time in the last sector. Glad to see Ferrari dejected again. No huge surprises in the top 10. Let's see what the race brings tomorrow.

I was playing F1 2010 on the PS3 alot last year, and this was a pretty challenging track to drive on (not as hard as Spain though). Great elevation changes and high speed corners, especially the turn 5-6, turn 7-8, and turn 12-13 combos, where you know you can go full throttle through the turns but need to be accurate on the racing line.

[Cory02]

Another great effort by McLaren. They are still running the temporary diffuser they used in Australia so they should pick up the pace when they get that (and their exhaust system) sorted out. Good to see both Renaults and one of the Saubers in the top 10. Lotus and HRT picked up the pace from Australia but time will tell how they do the rest of the season (I expect HRT doesn't have the money to develop the car for the entire season, just like last year).

Should definitely be an interesting race with the big differences in grip (and wear) between the 2 tire compounds and the possibility of rain in the forecast (at least there was a couple days ago when I last heard a forecast).

[Autotelik]

Good race. Vettel looking to really run away with it this year. I know it's still early in the season, but no other car has matched Red Bull's dominance since early last year, and Vettel is definitely driving with his head screwed on properly now. I thought Webber ran a pretty decent race, considering some mechanical problems from the get-go dropping him to 9th early on, and even with 4 stops for tyres, he managed to crawl back up to 4th. Good battle there between him and Massa near the end, and then trying to chase down Heidfeld for the final podium spot. Don't know what happened with Webber's rear wing though, because it looked like he like Heidfeld get away from him at the end because he didn't have DRS on and the Renault was just too fast in the straight. Also, Webber will have to figure out a way to manage tyres better- he can't go every race making one more stop than the frontrunners because he kills his tyres too quickly.

Another good battle between Alonso and Hamilton near the end too. I hate Alonso, but I know he's a good driver. However, today he made a pretty bad mistake running too close to Hamilton and clipping his rear.

Good to see Kobayashi, Di Resta get points.

Amazing race by Heidfeld too. Man, Renault's got a good car this year. Too bad this happened to Petrov at the end. Otherwise, it would have been two cars with points for Renault.


It's a short break this week, as we move on to China next weekend for race 3 of the year.

[Autotelik]

Anyone with thoughts on qualifying for the Chinese GP? The biggest news is of course Mark Webber being knocked out in Q1, and starts 18th on the grid. No KERS last week, and still no KERS this week for Mark's car, and he had electrical problems in P3 that pretty much screwed up his session too. I know people said he should have put the option tires on in Q1 to get a faster lap time, but Vettel was running on primes too, and he was full second or so faster than Mark. I think there's a big elephant in the room here, and none of the commentators have dared to even suggest it yet, but to me, Red Bull is very clearly favoring Vettel, and maybe deliberately giving Mark an inferior car.

Race starts in about an hour's time.

[Cory02]

Qualifying was definitely interesting. Beside the abysmal result for Webber, I was excited to see both cars from Toro Rosso as well as Paul di Resta in the top 10.

Great race today with an absolutely thrilling finish. Webber was definitely on a tear at the end of the race. Great weekend for Nico Rosberg too with a 5th place finish (from 4th on the grid) and leading 14 laps.

Theres no doubt that Red Bull has a great car but, as a team, they aren't on McLaren's level. If Red Bull doesn't get the KERS system fully sorted out soon, they may be chasing McLaren if not some of the other teams.

[Autotelik]

Wow, I think that was one of the best races in recent years!!
Tire strategy played a HUGE part in this round. Do we try to do 2 stops only but risk losing tire performance, or do 3 stops for fresher tires but risk time spent in the pits? Well, the 2 stops strategy failed for Vettel and Massa, though 2nd place for Vettel can't be too bad at all.

Amazing drive by Webber. I'm a staunch Webber fan, and that was an amazing run from 18th up to 3rd. Kind of like last race in Malaysia where he just missed out on a podium finish by a few seconds behind Heidfeld. This time, he chases down Button in the penultimate lap. For a moment, I thought Button was going to overtake him back in the very last lap because he would then have the advantage of KERS & DRS in the long straight.... but Mark pulled ahead enough where that didn't matter. Also very interesting TV coverage there in that battle between Mark and Jenson in the end... you could see the effect of KERS where Jenson exited turn 13 onto the long straight just ahead of Mark, and with KERS, he was able to pull away.... until Mark (without KERS) got into the DRS zone and caught him back and more. Mark also had the benefit of more sets of fresh option tires because he got knocked out early in qualifying. Yeah, really incredible race by Mark.

Hamilton.... haven't seen him so emotional after a win for a long time. And to think that he was so close (mere seconds) from starting the race off the grid because of fuel problems. His engineers were frantically getting the fuel from out of his engine just prior to the start of the race, and put everything back together to get him onto the grid for the start. Amazing race too by Hamilton.

Great finish by the Mercedes team with both Rosberg and Schumacher in the points.

All in all, a fabulous race this round. One for the ages I'd say.

Yeah, Red Bull really needs to fix their KERS. I just realized that this is the first time ever they are implementing a KERS car. When KERS was allowed a few years ago, Red Bull chose to not use it. And now, they are maybe paying for that a bit in trying to tweak and perfect it while other teams clearly have it down right.

Great battle between Alonso and Schumacher too in the middle of the race. Alonso's rear wing opened up in a non-DRS zone after turn 15 for a split second.... wonder what's going to become of that in terms of a penalty.

And for all the people who think F1 is boring because of the lack of overtakes.... to me it's incredibly exciting because of the battles going on at the front and in the midfield, and this race had PLENTY of overtaking.

Lastly, unless I recall incorrectly, Vettel actually has gone all 3 races this year without actually overtaking someone ahead of him in position. The first two races he went from pole to win, and this one he finished without overtaking someone higher up.... he only gained position from other drivers pitting (like Jenson's error stopping in the Red Bull pit box). There are criticisms floating around in some F1 forums about his inability to overtake cleanly (due mainly to his crashes last year with Mark in Istanbul, and Jenson in Belgium when he tried to overtake them).... so far this year, his ability in that area hasn't really been tested.

Next race in 3 weeks in Turkey!