No I put it up to show how one person it at the top of his game at the moment, and the other driver shows the exact same emotions but is within a working team, they are very happy with themselves at present.
Chandhok didn't get the drive - just confirmed on the BBC Can sort of see where Lotus are coming from but it is harsh on the bloke, as I recall they were saying he was definitely going to get the chance earlier on in the season...
Good decision IMO. Chandhok is a nice guy, but he's not good enough. I dont remember Lotus saying he would get the drive. It was just the media jumping to conclusions, although no doubt it was considered.
Disappointing news. Their excuse for denying Chandhok is that they need to "secure tenth place in 2011" - what a silly excuse - they're already 10th and and the only way they'd lose that is if Virgin or HRT to finish 12th in India, which is very very unlikely.
With regards to Chandhok, I agree with Lotus really. Would you risk £16m (I believe) to keep a few locals happy? Chandhok hasn't been on the pace of Trulli, and certainly not Kovalainen in any free practice I can remember this season. Whether time in the car is a factor or not, they can't afford to take the risk.
i think the problem with rookie's like chandhok is that the majority of the time they get picked up by the 3 "new" teams, lotus virgin and hrt. compared with the other cars, lotus is the only real f1 car, and even they are always at the back of the grid. the new drivers get put in those cars and can't show their worth a) because the car is crap and probably difficult to drive and b) they can barely ever beat their teammates who are usually good drivers (kovaleinen, trulli and glock all used to race at top teams). i think before we pass judgement on ANY rookie driver, they should be given a chance in a proper car, as di resta, hulkenberg, perez, maldonado and senna recently have.
[video=youtube;lCQtzqPfleM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCQtzqPfleM&feature=related[/video] Another funny video.
This is why I believe that all teams should be required to let their 3rd driver participate in FP1 in an agreed amount of GP weekends over the season, say about 4 or 5?
From James Allen: Track characteristics Buddh International â 5.125 kilometres. Race distance â 60 laps = 307.249 kilometres. 16 corners in total. Average speed 210 km/h. A new circuit hosting a Grand Prix for the first time Aerodynamic setup â High downforce. Top speed 320km/h (with DRS open) 308km/h without Full throttle â 70% of the lap time (est) Total fuel needed for race distance â 161.6 kilos (high). Fuel consumption â 2.65 kg per lap (ave) Brake wear- average. Loss time for a Pit stop = 15.5 seconds (est) Total time needed for a pit stop: 20 seconds (est) Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried): 0.35 seconds (ave/high) The track is a combination of mostly slow speed corners and some long straights, which leads to a reasonably high average speed. The first sector of the lap is stop-start, with two straights intercut with hairpins, while the middle sector is a flowing section featuring some faster corners, including the banked Turn 10/11, which engineers estimate will be approaching the G force on the drivers and loading on the tyres of Turn 8 in Turkey. The track has a lot of elevation change, rising 14 metres from Turn 1 to Turn 3, which contributes a little to increasing the fuel weight penalty, in other words the weight of every 10kg of fuel slows you down more than at some other tracks. During practice and qualifying the adjustable DRS wing can be used for approximately 62% of the lap, roughly similar to Spa. In the race it will help overtaking on the straight. With 20 metre track width, overtaking should not be a problem at Buddh. Teams will have been using simulation tools in the factories to establish baseline items such as gear ratios, wing levels, springs and cooling requirements. But they can only really understand the grip level of the track and the tyre wear rates by running on the circuit. It would appear that the track surface is quite smooth and there are no real bumps. The total fuel needed for the race is high at over 160 kilos, which will test the fuel tank size of some teams, especially with the higher fuel consumption brought about by exhaust blowing diffusers. Recently we have seen an increasing number of drivers running out of fuel on the slow down lap after the chequered flag. We may well see that again in India. Form Guide The Indian Grand Prix is the 17th round of 19 in the 2011 FIA F1 World Championship. Sebastian Vettel has clinched his second consecutive world championship and won four of the last five races, but the Red Bull team has lost its 100% record in qualifying, as Lewis Hamiltonâs McLaren took pole in Korea. However on race day the Red Bull was still the fastest car and the Buddh Circuit should suit its car. Most teams are using the final races of the season to test out ideas and components for next season, so relative performance can change, for example Ferrari were not particularly fast in Korea, until the second half of the race. Weather Forecast The forecast for the weekend is stable with temperatures in the mid-20˚Cs to low 30˚Cs and track temperatures up in the low 40˚Cs. Likely tyre performance and other considerations Pirelli tyre choice for India: Soft (yellow markings) and Hard (silver markings). This combination was seen in the first five races as well as Silverstone. Although the teams have the basic information about the circuit, the radius of each corner and length of the straights, they do not yet have a good feel for the abrasiveness of the track surface and the level of track improvement over the weekend. This will be crucial to making the right calls on Sunday. Teams will use the extra set of Pirelli soft tyres available for practice on Friday to learn as much as possible about tyre degradation. Simulations show that the circuit provides a similar level of tyre challenge as Silverstone and Korea, with 80% of the tyre energy of Suzuka. The high temperatures are likely to lead to tyre blistering, particularly on the shoulder of the tyre and camber angles will have to be conservative to cope with heat build up the long straights. The combination of soft and hard tyres is a very conservative one; it is a new track and Pirelli donât want to take any chances. The combination has not been seen since Silverstone, (which started in wet conditions so the hard tyre was not used) and earlier in the season, in Barcelona for example, we saw a performance difference of over 2 seconds between the two compounds. This will mean that drivers will want to qualify on the soft and do most of the race on it, with probably no more that 10 laps on the hard tyre at the beginning or end of the race. The main taking point is likely to be the fast Turns 10 and 11: similar in its characteristics to the famous Turn 8 in Turkey, although tightening, rather than opening out and therefore slower. It will put a lot of lateral energy through the tyres. The corner is a right hander, so it will hurt the front-left tyre in particular and this could be a limiting factor in the race. Wheels spinning under acceleration out of the many low speed corners will also take quite a bit out of the rear tyres. Whereas the Bridgestone hard tyres were better at coping with high temperatures than the softs, with Pirelli it is the other way around. Number and likely timing of pit stops The pit lane at Buddh is long at 600 metres, but simulations show that it can be negotiated in 20 seconds including the stationary time, so itâs not as bad from a strategic point of view as might be imagined. Drivers will want to spend as little time as possible on the hard tyre, as it will be so slow in comparison with the soft. So strategists will be planning around 10 laps or less on it. For top ten drivers, who must start the race on their qualifying tyres, they will take the hard tyre at the end of the race; for those outside the top ten, who can choose their starting tyre for the race, we may see some opting to get the hard tyre out of the way early, as the pace will be slower with traffic in the first ten laps than when the field has spread out in the last ten laps. Heidfeld (Renault), Sutil and Barrichello tried this strategy in Barcelona. On paper therefore, allowing for that short stint on hards, strategists will be planning a three stop race, but the game will be to establish whether itâs possible to cut that down to two stops, by making the softs last longer and using the hard for a little longer. Teams like Toro Rosso and Sauber, which have made a speciality of extending the opening stints and gaining track position in the process, may well try it again here. Otherwise there will probably not be a big variation between strategies this weekend.
A race starting at half past an hour on purpose, when was the last time that happened? (Quiz of the day )
Didn't the Jap GP used to start on the half hour UK time, or was that just a time difference between our countires? Am sure I would always miss the first half hour?! Can you ask Manny to stop posting random Schuey/Mercedes videos up here! Not the thread for it!
Can't you ask me yourself, firstly they are there to lighten the mood. Secondly, they both contain other drivers also. Thirdly the last video does not contain Schumi at all so suck on it.
More enlightening reportage from Sarah Holt in India here. I particularly like the way she refers to Jenson Button as "Lewis Hamilton's team-mate" rather than "Mclaren driver" or "2009 World Champion". Well I guess despite not contributing an interview, opinion or anything else to the article, Hamilton has to get a reference somewhere! Thank you BBC for wasting money on this quality reporting. Would sacking Andrew Benson and Sarah Holt give you the money to pay for another race next season?
lighten the mood- ? Schuey comments.? you only do it because you think one day I will kiss his arse. forget it mate.
...and the BBC are paying for Holt to go to India. What's the point of her being there? On another note, Horner said they'd use team orders to help Webber. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95702 Really?
