Mercedes must have sorted something out by now, DDRS is not doing the job properly. They will have had 5 weeks, and with their budget, that is more than enough time. However DDRS may work wonders in Spa Qualifying with the track layout and all. Personally an epic battle between these two would do. please log in to view this image
A bit of a bold statement. It worked for them at China, but it did not in Spain or Malaysia which had similarly long straights. Yet on the least DRS-friendly track of all Schumacher put the car on pole. Also, we don't know how much work they've put in over the summer break. So it's a bit tricky to tell. Personal views? Raikkonen is getting the momentum behind his comeback at just the right time. I think Maldonado may reappear from the shadows and surprise everyone again in qualifying. I think this has always been a bit of a cursed track for Button and that will continue. Hamilton will get pole, but the race will be chaotic and it's anyone's guess really.
Yeah good point, about Monaco specifically.. after this Summer break I don't have an idea where people will be at, but I can only guess.
Those five weeks include a two week factory shutdown. And the others will have been developing too. Then again it may not. Spa's reasonably low downforce and Mercedes seem to struggle with high speed aero. I've gone for Raikkonen. He owns Spa.
I get culture shock looking at the old F1 cars, though that's more to do with the wing length restrictions than the stepped noses.
With the amount of money they have, they should be able to endless perform trial and error on packages in the space of time they have, excluding the shutdown. Yeah I commented on tom's post earlier that his point about Monaco was a good one, it seems weird that in 2011 straight line speed and low downforce was a speciality of the silver arrows, and now it is different.. it is like a rollercoaster for them. All I know is cool conditions, and maybe extreme weather suits them best. And the odd straight as well as many heavy braking and accelerating points. Oh dear, I think it is best we leave Mercedes until Saturday the 1st...
The rear wings get me the most, though over time I actually think the modern rear wings look better. weird huh?
Exactly my feelings. I think it's just because they're what we're used to now. I imagine that if I went through a year of watching the 2006 season on repeat (AKA the Sky Sports F1 schedule) rather than the modern look then I'd prefer them. I do still think that the old cars had such a lovely balance in terms of their look, they were just a bit cluttered...
I'm taking the safe option with Hamilton. Whenever i pick him, he doesn't win, so i'd like that to continue.
Long term forcast for Spa is looking like light rain on Friday at least. Mild showers and temperatures ranging from 17-19C by the looks of it when looking about on a few other sites. It will also be raining all week coming up to the race weekend so take that and make of it as you will.
By the way has anybody else come across the rumour that Alonso has a birth defect called (Poland Syndrome) ? Pictures of him on holiday show that his right chest muscle is vastly smaller than his left side. I would love to hear what Alonso has to say about that as that could help inspire people also suffering with it. So hopefully it would mean that it doesn't make you inferior since this guy is living proof of a double world champion, the most complete driver on the grid and having this issue from the day he was born!
Auto Motor Und Sports Half term report... I can see no National Bias going on here... nope none Maldo is not so popular in Germany either
4.45 for Pastor is harsh, even with his late race accidents when in good positions. I dare not say anything about MSC getting 6.73 for fear of The Wrath
Massa v Maldonado surely Maldo has at least been a match for Alonso at some points this season and he has actually won a race. I think Massa should be lower than him. Also funny how Autosport have been giving Karth-Vader an average of 6s per race. Would be interesting to see a half time report made of their scores. Anybody fancy it?... Or have they already done one?
