Petrov had the same strategy as Senna and I do not think it was really driver oriented but because the car was just very hard on the option tyres. I think his performance this weekend needs to be looked at in a bit of context; it was not an altogether terrible performance just more of a disjointed and unsettled one. He performed very well at Spa after being thrown into the most challenging of conditions at a very testing circuit, again at another challenging circuit in Monza he performed well and got into the points. Singapore is very hard on the drivers and the Renault was very poor there but Senna easily outperformed his team mate. After his first four races back I would give him a B+ for his overall performance. Interlagos?
I have another way of looking at it. Today probably Bruno was less under the spot light as today the championship was going to be decided, and I believe the media will be/is abuzz with Vettel's exploits rather than what Senna did. And Those who are going to decide the driver lineup will be as watchful on the nest 4 races, probably more so now that the championship is already decided.
Petrov's strategy is equally driver oriented! This is my point: it is a driver led decision and therefore cannot be 'excused' as poor team strategy, which was the original point I was refuting. As for Interlagos: no, it will not draw the same audience. Neither is it as much of a driver challenge (although of course it is still challenging).
But the Renault being too hard on the option tyre dictated the strategy, not the driver. Are you saying Senna will not be under pressure to perform in Brazil? I think Interlagos is where he will be under the most pressure, apart from his first GP at Spa.
I think his performance this weekend needs to be looked at in a bit of context; it was not an altogether terrible performance just more of a disjointed and unsettled one. He performed very well at Spa after being thrown into the most challenging of conditions at a very testing circuit, again at another challenging circuit in Monza he performed well and got into the points. Singapore is very hard on the drivers and the Renault was very poor there but Senna easily outperformed his team mate. After his first four races back I would give him a B+ for his overall performance. I believe an A- would be more befitting. One bad race out of 4 and 4 good qualification rounds
Can we start again, Mifune? I have tried to make it clear that tyre strategy takes account of the driver and is a decision which is led by the driver. Of course this will take account of the way in which the tyres last and the way in which his car uses the tyres! But this is because a driver is driving the car and a driver decides what is best for it! This is why a driver chooses one way or another! Let's put it another way: If you give me two sets of tyres and I say that I need to change set A after 15 laps and set B after 21 laps; and the race is 59 laps, we will decide upon a strategy based on these predictions. This has nothing to do with a different driver being able to make set A last 17 laps or set B only 19 laps. It is a decision arrived at by the team which depends upon my feedback to that team, which I base upon my own performance and ability to get the best from the tyres! This has nothing to do with what other drivers can or cannot do. To make it crystal clear: Senna's tyre usage was not in any way a fault of his team's poor strategy! This was the original point and the point I was responding to! Senna's performance at Suzuka 2011 was not the result of his team's poor strategy. He (Senna), the driver; is the person a team builds its plan around, according to what has occurred during his practice and on his car because he is driving it. If the practice has been difficult for whatever reason (including inconsistent driver performance), they arrive at a driver led collective decision about how to make best use of the tyres during the race because of what this driver did in practice and what this driver is saying. This decision is a direct result of driver preference (which obviously takes account of his style because he is the person giving the feedback), according to that driver's own feeling about what is going on and how he can (or cannot) adapt. If a driver is inconsistent, any decision is more and more likely to be flawed because the data is less and less reliable. Senna's poor showing today at Suzuka 2011 was not due to his team's "poor strategy". The driver is the means by which tyre strategy is decided. Therefore his poor showing has nothing to do with team strategy because of tyre choice. [edit: I notice you also ask about Brazil, which I will attempt to answer separately]
Well I could have told them that pants strapped to the car won't help, plus I'm fairly sure pants would class a moveable aero device.
depends how long they'd been worn for before-hand, were they brief or boxers? I think aerodynamically boxers would provide more down force. What about construction materials? Silk for lightweight, but maybe they need the strength of synthetics?
he's beginning to show the strain of jumping in mid-season, esp on newer tracks. Difficult to predict what the future holds for him.
I think he had a decent race today. He lost out at the start where he got stuck behind a bunch caused by Buemi going off a bit and dropped down to 19th place but he fought his way back up to 13th.
I have been noticing he loses 6 places at every start. If he can sort that out (along with the tyre wear) he will be back i the points soon enough.
I would like to believe he had a decent race, apparently many don't think so. He's struggled these last two GPs, but he's in a different position from others and desperately needs to prove himself enough to bag a good seat for next year...
I think it's important to remember with Bruno that he has a 3/4 season disadvantage compared to the other drivers.
Well many people despise bruno so it wouldn't be a shock if they used this as an excuse to pounce, but it wasn't that bad. Does anyone know what strategy Renault ran today with him? He seemed to be off the cliff tyre wise in the last few laps.
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "A disappointing day, especially with a car which was showing very good pace. To be fighting with Michael and Fernando after the first pit stop was very encouraging. Vitaly crashed into Michael after locking up on the dirty side of the track, which unfortunately put them both out of the race. Bruno had a difficult race. He started quite a way back. We took a bit of a risk to use the super soft (option) tyre very early to try to gain positions. It didn't work and basically he stayed where he started. We did ask a lot of the soft tyres to do nearly half a race and it didn't work, but equally it didn't cost us anything. Looking at the positives, there is no doubt that the car was working very well with Vitaly and we have more data going forwards."
