True, but Button has beaten him in both dry races on pace ( im aware the penalty put lewis behind but when they got clean air he didn't close in on Jenson) so race pace has to be a concern for him. I expected more from him today.
Everyone struggled in traffic except for Nico. Third from 7th today was a great result for Hamilton. I think everyone expects him to go in all guns-blazing, make rash moves and get in trouble, but then will storm to a few wins every year but drop points everywhere else. I wonder if Lewis from last year in all that traffic would have tried to make a lunge that was never on, break a front wing, get a penalty etc etc? He made clean overtakes, drove well and was hardly done on pace by Button. Say what you will, 3 races in and he's heading the WDC by playing it cool. It fared well for him in early 2007, and this time he doesn't have to worry again about the gravel trap by pit road in China for later in the year
I agree with this whole statement, but have highlighted what I consider to be your most important point, Genji. It is warming to see that someone understands this vital subtlety, which is clearly lost on othersâ¦
Another great job by the Ferrari pit crew, all five of their pits stops were among the six fastest stops of the race: Alonso - 20.024 Massa - 20.051 Alonso - 20.136 Hamilton - 20.177 Massa - 20.250 Alonso - 20.296 http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2012/866/7137/pit_stop_summary.html Average pit stop times: Ferrari - 20.151 McLaren - 20.562 (21.571 if you include Button's 26.618 stop) Red Bull - 20.783 Force India - 20.807 (23.707 if you include Hulkenburg's 32.407 stop) Mercedes - 21.168 Williams - 21.326 Lotus - 21.370 (22.487 if you include Grosjean's 25.835 stop) Sauber - 21.986 Marussia - 22.182 Toro Rosso - 22.718 HRT - 23.803
but he was rarely in clean air.most of the time he was in traffic unable to make the most of his drs to overtake,because those ahead were using theirs at the same time.that takes alot out of the tyres. but when lewis was behind jenson in the final part of the race,lewis was 7 tenths quicker a lap than jenson,only about 2 seconds behind. but then jenson got past vettel,and lewis got held up.but really you cant read too much into race pace because of all the traffic.also lewis starting in second would have put jenson in 6th place.so i think it would have been a different story.
Lewis drove sensibly, a bit too sensibly at times maybe, when I saw he'd come out on track behind Massa I thought it might get a bit fruity. Rosberg was lucky everyone behind him got caught up in traffic, and in Buttons case screwed in the pits as well, he's fast on an empty track, and fast at China. The mercedes was clearly the best car and events around him went totally in his favour, a good drive, but not as good as some of SV's last year, I guess it's because it's his first everyone is raving, if he does it for the next 6 races he'll probably be a spoiled ****.
The gap was always between 1.6 and 2.3 seconds. He never really threatened. Basically he did all the hard work getting up from 6th in the first corner, but then didn't make the charge you thought he might. He drove well, but after the build up to this, being told it is a "lewis track" i simply expected more.
Here's hoping the likes of Rosberg and Perez take the limelight away from Seb in a year or two then The Seb hate across the web (bar here) and youtube has become laughable now.
from 7th. well what is lewis supposed to do on these tyres with all the traffic?go all out and stop 5 times?attemp a risky overtake and end up getting no points? last season maybe,but its a different approach this season,and its working. also if lewis and jenson were roughly moving at the same pace,then if lewis had of started in 2nd place and jenson 6th,im very sure lewis would have finished ahead of JB,especially considering he would have only had NR ahead of him,if he hadnt of been able to get past him at the start. anyway both drivers did a good job in the end,we'll see what happens next week.quali should be very interesting,mercedes could split the mclarens.
I feel he could've pushed more in some places and gone for some overtakes earlier than he did, but who's to say that if he had gone for those he would'nt have ended up with a penalty or DNF, the marbles look treacherous and Im not sure I like the tyres anymore. A look at the WDC table should tell Lewis how his approach is working out, shame he had to change his gearbox as I think he could've pressed Nico more, but he's top dog atm
Poor from Mercedes ruining Schumacher's race though. Might have won it. He was on the 3 stop as well.
Well that would be quite the role reversal wouldn't it. Jenson Button: McLarens faster driver, but occasionaly makes vital mistakes Lewis Hamilton: Not got the pace of his faster teammate but is a lot more consistent, and the consistency is paying off.
pretend you are a Massa fan for 10 mins, then remind yourself you are not, you should be fine after that.
There, there. It'll only last a few days. Bahrain's in less than a week. Some people think Mercedes will be crucified in Bahrain because of the high temperature. They may be right but, as I understand it, they don't shred their tyres simply because it's hot. They have a very narrow operating window and if they set up the car for a particular set of conditions and they get it wrong (even just by a few ºC) then the tyres either don't work (Malaysia) or degrade massively (Australia). In China, race temperatures were relatively similar to practice sessions so they could understand what they were working with. The temperatures in Bahrain should be equally consistent, so we might see similar performance next weekend. Or I might be talking crap.
No I see what you mean, if the temps stay the same throughout the weekend from Friday the team will understand where they are at, and will translate it into the race like today. But it's less than a week which is better, Michael's luck has been horrid this season.
McLaren got shafted in Valencia last year when it was hot. Don't know if they'll still suffer with that, could throw it in the air a bit if they're off the pace though. Especially if Mercedes struggle as well, could see Perez or someone on pole.
