all collecting data, so difficult to read into what was going on. Red Bull do seem to have the edge, though.
I think Mercedes will drop down the order, they were running with the engines turned up which I doubt the other top teams were doing. Anyone notice the suspension travel on the Renaults? They were moving a mile. Hamilton seems to have the edge over Button pace wise, but can't manage his tyres. He managed one qualifying lap and said his tyres were finished, while Vettel managed three and then came out on the same tyres to do a high fuel race sim. Webber seemed to have lots of traffic on his quick run. Could be close to Vettel in quali but in both races so far he's needed an extra stop. I'm predicting Vettel, Button, Webber, Hamilton. Although I think Heidfeld and Alonso will be able to challenge Webber and Hamilton for the podium.
I'd agree that for a 1 lap mad dash - Lewis seems to have the edge, but at what cost? I'd back Button to sustain good lap times over Lewis.
New teams round-up: I thought Lotus were impressive in FP1, thats the first time any of the new teams have beaten the older teams before, Kovaleinen looked good, its a shame it wasn't repeated in FP2, which makes me wonder if it was a low fuel run in FP1, still much closer than last year! Also, HRT quicker than Virgin in both sessions???
If Lotus commit to developing the car they should overtake Toro Rosso, who have a very limited budget, and maybe Force India. I think they'll score their first point this season.
I feel like this will be the race where we see how things are going to be this year. Between team-mates especially.This combined with issues like how Hamilton can cope with the tires and finding out if Vettel is Unstoppable (if he wins the first 3 races i just can't see anyone else taking the title.) means that this is going to be a very interesting weekend.
Anyone hear on the FP commentary that Hamilton went through a set of tyres (guessing option) in one lap? Thats really heavy wear. If he does that in quali then he'll have to pit at the end of the first lap. I'm doubting he'll make pole then as he'll have to look after the tyres to stand a chance off the line, that or use primes, which costs 2 seconds apparently. Could put him quite far down the grid, which could be interesting. Thinking about it (I think I've got this right), each driver has 3 of each sets for quali and the race, i think he might get through Q1 on primes, but with the advantage the options bring, he'll have to use them for Q2 and Q3, and if they only last one lap, one error means he'll be screwed! If he has to use his third options for Q3, then he's got to start on used tyres which are shredded, and only have primes for the race itself. Intriguing this...
Meanwhile Pirelli say a One-Stop stratagy is possible. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90734 Lewis better hope that wear rate was a one off or he could be having serious issues over the next two days.
Hamilton's lap in practice didn't even look that aggressive so I'm really surprised he couldn't make them last more then one lap
He has to get over this tyre wear issue. Pre season he said something along the lines of the team has to trust him, and if he says he needs new tyres they have to back him. But if he's tearing them up in a single lap when a one stop race is possible he's going to get destroyed, he won't even be in the points. There were two arguments pre season about the tyres and who they would favour more, Button or Hamilton. Button's case was that he manages the tyres well, so he could make the fragile Pirellis last. Hamilton's was that he was good at driving around problems, i.e. loss of rear grip due to tyre wear. But how many times have we since seen him complaining the moment he loses the slightest bit of grip? Brazil last year he needed a two stopper, Abu Dhabi he asked to pit and was told not to, then last week he four stopped after being told to do three. That's three of the last four races where he's either ruined his tyres, or failed to adjust to the grip when they've gone off. And two of those races were on Bridgestones. I think he's going to struggle massively this year.
You could say Lewis is like the Tyson Gay of the F1 world while Jenson is the Kenenisa Bekele equivalent. I always reckoned after 09 that Jenson's final years in F1 would be better than Lewis' because of his tyre management skills and years of F1 experience, giving him his "boom era" while adapting with the constant changes in F1. My old man said 2 years ago that Lewis would slowly fade away when the age started to kick in, he knows that with experience Lewis will have to use his head in future rather than aggression and reflex's. Lewis can go as fast as he want's and wreak his tyres all weekend, it's still going to make me happy watching Vettel, Alonso, Webber and Button beat him if he doesn't change his attitude towards his driving style. Sorry not trying to be negative here but that's what the proof in the pudding is showing, Lewis is struggling badly with the Pirelli's even while a rookie like Perez is making it look easy. @Alex I don't think we got a clear video of his lap which he set with the option that went off after 1 lap, but if I remember right (while being half asleep because of watching practice 1 live) that Anthony Davidson was commenting on how more aggressive Lewis was doing his run compared to Vettel (you could see it on turn 13), and said he looked to be carrying more fuel because of his slower hand movements on the wheel, yet vettel was still 1 tenth faster AND! could go on for longer keeping that speed unlike Lewis.
Things are looking a bit worrying for McLaren - updates not working. Looks like an easy Vettel pole/ Red Bull domination. His finger is pissing me off. With Ferrari having sorted their tyre temp issues, they will be a lot closer in qualifying. If the McLaren continues to be "uncomfortable", and the drivers have a messy lap in Q3, Fernando might outqualify them. This is being very optimistic. It looks like a clear pecking order at the top: Red Bull McLaren Ferrari Renault
