Well I guess this will be a hard lesson for Sebastian to learn then, though I'm sure it will pay through in the end.
[video=youtube;bd_4WIyTRZU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd_4WIyTRZU[/video] Schumacher MK2 and his increased sportsmanship towards his teammate, but I think it still stings a little. Haha.
Yes, I'm very excited about tomorrow because there's no obvious candidate to win and no single winning strategy. As it stands now, I wouldn't know who to single out for the win but I'd be surprised if the Mercedes pair didn't fall back over the course of the race. This would be a shame though so maybe 4 stops is the way to go.
Sauber will one stop, Mercedes 4 stop, everyone else 2 or 3 stop and Vettel will start on primes, it's going to be all over the place.
I heard the odds on him are about 967497/8. Is this Sauber the same as in 08? Not as good as front couple of teams, but ahead of the midfield. But with great drivers, which is their strongest asset. I really want to see Kobayashi win, but I think Perez should be the man to get their first ever win. (As Sauber) Will they settle for 2nd again?
Would they risk it with Kobayashi? My guess is that they'll split their strategies - Kobayashi on a more conventional strategy and Perez one stopping.
Well as a part time fan of Kamui I was suprised by that qualifying lap of his, I always considered him quite weak in that field. Great going through the field but nothing else stuck out for me with him. The 2011 Sauber was good off the blocks so they make quick cars but the EBD robbed them of better results in the past I believe. I would rate this car equal to the Lotus, so it's a podium fighter that's for sure in my opinion. I think Sauber would be delighted with a 3rd and 4th considering the guys in the "top 11" they're up against. Hopefully both will get a good result as Sauber will always be my second favorite team.
I think that, without the ground effects-generated rear-end downforce that the EBD delivered, Red Bull are having to rely more on the rear wing to generate downforce and use it less as a stabiliser and this is compromising the car's balance. Don't lose sight of the fact that Vettel drove a squirmy car to 2nd in Melbourne and was running in 4th, with hopes of challenging Hamilton for 3rd, in Sepang. He isn't exactly embarrassing himself in the races (well, hand gestures and insults aside).
I don't know if any of you lot like a bet but Webber 14/1 and Vettel 22/1 are smashing each way value with Paddy Power tomorrow, the race could go in their favour if the mercs don't have race pace and slow the pack down.
please log in to view this image Lotus updates didn't work, they're targeting the podium tomorrow, not a victory: Kimi Raikkonen: “The grid position is okay but when you look at the times, I’m disappointed with the pace of the car today. We’ve gained a position after Lewis’s penalty but the speed wasn’t where it should have been, especially when you look at the pole time. We’ve tried some updates this weekend, but they haven’t worked as we wanted so we’ve gone back to how the car was before. We go into the race less confident in the car than in the last two races, but knowing that we start from a higher position on the grid. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow, we’ll try to do the best we can and hopefully we can be higher up than we are on the grid, and that means a podium.” Alan Permane: “On the technical side, we brought a new update package for the car and we weren’t convinced by a large part of it yesterday. This meant we reverted almost entirely to our Malaysia specification which is why we have missed out on potential pace from the car. We hope to get all the new elements working soon.”
To win a championship, you need a good car and a good driver. Both cars and drivers come in and out of form and the pecking order is always in flux. It doesn't matter who you support, when they have a bad run or a single poor performance the knives will be ready to come out. I'm a devoted Hammy fan, so seeing Vettel in not so dominant fashion is good for me in that he's not streaking away with it for a second year. But regardless of what's going on now, it takes nothing away from Vettels's achievements thus far. There's still time for RB to solve any car issues anyway. I fear we might be writing off Vettel too soon.
Its been suggested that Kobayashi may be like Hamilton in that he was more suited to the era of being able to thrash your tyres for longer and really drive aggresively and just go for it. As opposed to the Pirelli era when you have to really treat the fragile tyres as though your paying for them yourself. I've noticed that at this point in time he has done 21 grand prix in both the bridgestone drive for your life era and the Pirelli be careful era. And in the bridgestone era he has 9 points scoring finishes to his name. Compared to the Pirelli era where he has 11 point scoring finishes to his name (including melbourne 2011). Make of that what you will. Anyway anyone reckon he will get ahead of Perez in the standings tomorrow?
Any brainbox know the last time Schumacher started at the front in a GP, don't know about 2006, the Ferrari was not very good then.
