in Q1 and Q2, force india were amongst the first teams out. instead of showing di resta or hulkenberg, the broadcaster i was watching showed a full lap of charles pic, even tho the FIs were doing flying laps at the same time
It's interesting that this conspiracy theory has now reached the point where FOM physically can't comment on it without it seeming a confirmation.
Also, can i just say that HRT hiring Pedro De La Rosa was a masterstroke, the car isn't that much slower than the marussia now, give him another 6 months with it, and they should be well ahead of them.
Have to agree with this. Let's be honest, we all thought he'd be miles off the pace but he's outpacing his younger (well, 33) team-mate and the feedback they both give is going to give them a good shot at getting their cars into that 11th spot in the championship again.
I thought de la rosa was a ridiculous signing, but i hadn't thought about the bigger picture, i had only thought about the here and now.
Strategy is going to be intersting tomorrow. Mclaren have spent the last two days setting their car up around the option tyres and will probably go (start on options)-option-option-prime, while other teams like Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari are probably going to do (start on options)-prime-prime-(and then maybe a 3rd stint back on the options). Should be exciting. I also think Williams could get another double points finish tomorrow because looking after your tyres seems to be cruicial here and the Williams uses it's tyres well. Senna did something like 28 laps on the options in China to make his two stop strategy work.
Exactly what I was thinking, if the difference in compounds was the same as today then 3 stopping would be quicker, but that doesnt take into account being potentially stuck! This race is also a good chance for us to see just how effective mercedes DRS system is at overtaking especially with michael; cant wait, also happy to get some decent sleep this weekend
Red Bull should have this in the bag regardless of strategy. They'll almost certainly opt for primes at each pit stop, they seem to have the best car on primes and the durability will allow them to push harder than drivers who prefer options. Another problem with going option in the second stint is that there's a risk of getting stuck behind cars going slightly longer on primes and losing time in traffic.
Hamilton seems to think that Mclaren's race pace is quicker than Red Bull's. Plus Paul Hembery expects teams will have to three stop rather than two stop.
Alonso said this after qualifying: "Tomorrow, we must try and manage the tyres as well as possible, making the most of having three sets of new Mediums." It suggests he will be doing three stops tomorrow, using all sets of medium tyres. There's a small chance of him doing two stops if they find degradation is not that bad. Fry implied that Ferrari will split their strategies tomorrow, so with Massa back in 14th I think he will try to do two stops. Massa made the point that in Q2 he could have used a second set of soft tyres to try and get to Q3 but did not - so I can see him using those near the end of the race when others are on mediums or scrubbed softs. Alonso said sixth or seventh will be the best he can do tomorrow but I'm sure he is targeting 5th or maybe even 4th. For a start, I believe there are at least three cars in front of Alonso who I think will be slower than him (Perez, Grosjean, Ricciardo). There are opportunities to get past them at the start and also through super-fast pitstops. Then we have Rosberg, who I suspect will be sacrificing speed in order to protect his tyres...only for his tyres to overheat after a few laps anyway. As we saw in Australia, a struggling Rosberg is slower than Alonso in the F2012. If a McLaren or Red Bull run into trouble ahead, Alonso will make sure he takes full advantage of it - P4. I know I'm being very optimistic, but I'm sure Alonso is thinking the same way. I love the unpredictability of F1 this year.
Hamilton 2-3 stops v everyone else 3-4 stops. what is it to be? He was also suggestng the 2 stop is the best as he doesnt want to work hard overtake??? Is conservative Hammy back?
Gearbox change and 5-place grid drop for Schumacher. De la Rosa's HRT starts 20th. I think the grid looks like this: 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.422s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.520s + 0.098 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m32.637s + 0.215 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.711s + 0.289 5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.821s + 0.399 6. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m32.912s + 0.490 7. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m33.008s + 0.586 8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.394s + 0.972 9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari No time 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes No time 11. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m33.789s + 1.367 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.806s + 1.384 13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m33.807s + 1.385 14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m33.912s + 1.490 15. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m34.017s + 1.595 16. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m36.132s + 3.710 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.014s + 2.592 18. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m35.823s + 3.401 19. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m37.683s + 5.261 20. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m37.883s + 5.461 21. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault No time 22. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m34.865s + 2.443 23. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m37.905s + 5.483 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m38.314s + 5.892
As CEO of Ricciardo's fan club, I am friggin' stoked! Less than half a second off pole on used soft tyres!
Is the HRT pace genuine? Marrusia reacon they have gained 1.5 seconds since the season opener so must HRT must of gained 2 seconds. HRT have the uber light chassis and KERS to come as yet so are marussia buggered again?
