That and vettel crashing out, we were robbed of finally having a classic Abu Dhabi GP. we had to make do with Alonso giving it a go but we all know the Ferrari is not good enough
I was away on a bit of an expedition the last few days and missed it all, luckily I managed to catch it on iplayer without knowing the result beforehand Here's my run down of the weekend: Hamilton: Had a good qualifying and a very good race. He couldn't and didn't need to do anything more to have a better result and always looked in control of the pace. Got very little TV coverage which shows he was just forging ahead with no real dramas. Alonso: Also had a good qualifying and did well to get his car to finish second. As usual was able to push himself up front from the start and with the 'crippled' Button was able to chase Hamilton without having to watch his back. Button: The qualifying difference between him and Hamilton is now next to nothing and has been for a few races now, seems like he's getting better at 1 lap banzai's. In the race he did well to hold station with a broken car, loosing time from no KERS and then even more from battling people. Once he had a healthy car again he was off. Webber: Seemed a bit off it in qualifying and then in the race had the perfect chance to make his mark when Vettel went off. I'm sure he'll be disappointed to have finished behind two McLarens and a Ferrari this weekend. Massa: Ok in qualifying and seemed feisty in the race, unfortunately for him that seemed to fizzle out towards the end. As for the race I thought it was pretty good, but why did people insist on passing in the first DRS zone, lap after lap they'd loose their place in the second zone. A little patience and they could have just finished the move in zone 2.
That was exactly what I thought when Webber made his move on Button, why didn't he just get close to him through the first, then deploy all his KERS, as he must've known through the radio Button didn't have his to defend with, through the 2nd straight to the DRS activation zone and sail passed, that's what I would've done after failing the first time, but he seemes to intent on getting through the first time. Yes I do, it's where you are at the end that counts, making an over-take where you are sure to lose it straight away because of the overtake it's betetr to position yourself and wait. When I used to race I'd set myself up to be in a certain place through the whole lap. If there's only one place you're going to be able to make a good pass and make it stick, then you have to gear up your lap to attack there and only there, unless a good opportunity really presents itself (mistake, sick car)
ah, but you have to take the best, not the first, a race is not won in the first corner, so to speak. I just look at things from my own perspective on incidents, and what I would've done. To be fair to Webber, he wasn't helped by Redbulls short gearing either, hitting the limiter quite a way from the end of the straight
...against an underperforming Webber on a bad strategy. When he did have KERS (lap 1-12 and lap 31-55) Alonso pulled away from him.
Ironically Webber got the fastest lap and Button got the second fastest lap I still stand by what I said, once Button had KERS back Button pulled away from Webber and Massa, and at least matched the gap to Alonso
He got KERS back on lap 31, when the gap to Alonso was 10.5 seconds. At the end of the race (and despite Ferrari's medium tyre struggles) Alonso finished 17.4 seconds ahead of Button.
In that case one of our two data sheets are wrong, I make it a 15.9s gap at lap 31 and 17.4s at the end, which is less than a tenth a lap, which is all but matching? My original point was that he pulled away from Massa and Webber though
Button's KERS was only intermittent, it was never fully back. I also remember when Button got KERS back for the first time he was just over 1 second ahead of Webber and Massa and two laps later he was six seconds ahead.
He stated KERS was hit-and-miss - and that sometimes he didn't know whether he would have expected breaking, or not. Given that, I am not surprised he didn't EXACTLY match Alonso's final lap times.
You both make good points here. A racer instinctively goes for every opportunity. However, the ability to see the potential weakness in this mentality is often what can separate the great from the good. I think we should bear in mind that the combination of various gimmicks (for want of a better word) make the current situation in F1 rather unique. For a start, the DRS zones work differently at every circuit; and it is only once the DRS comes into play during a race that a driver can begin to appreciate just how it will actually play out. This becomes far easier to see when not actually involved, especially when watching it unfold on TV. Other factors are also important but often hidden from the spectator: gearing and wind direction can make a significant difference, as well as the efficiency of one's KERS unit and how best to use it. And that final point brings me back to the actual situation Webber was faced with. He was aware of Button's KERS problem but did not know the exact effect it would have, other than knowing it would give Button a massive headache in the braking zones (due to the extra ******ation provided by a properly functioning KERS and a total lack of it if it is not!). This extra factor would throw a spanner in the workings of normal logic, leaving any pre-conceived plan even more of a guess. Thus, the actual situation a driver is faced with at that moment once again becomes the dominant factor in his assessment. But ultimately we should remember that what a driver 'should' do only becomes 'obvious' after we see the effect of the interplay of all these things.
Looks like they've gone with a foreign object causing Vettel's puncture. They've ruled out a tyre or valve failure and they have said that the exhaust didn't overheat the inner wall on the grid. Due to the state the tyre was in by the time he got back to the pits they'll never really know for sure.
I see what you're saying Cosi, and you're right, but Webber tried the exact same thing the next lap, instead of just sitting back a little into the corner between the 2 straights to get drive into the 2nd DRS straight, didn't pull it off and after that was never close enough to threaten again, it's not so much the first attempt I'm critical of, but the 2nd, he didn't learn from the first failure. I find him a poor racing driver, more inclined to go fr a spectacular overtake than take his time and do a better job, Eau rouge for example, spectacular overtake but look at the other side of it, if he'd've waited just a little behind the ferrari he would've got the DRS passed, and pulled more of a lead instead of giving Alonso the chance to DRS back.
I think that it was something to do with the setup of the car that did it, whether it was the rake of the car, extreme camber, low tyre pressures, or a combination. Red Bull seem to be acting suspicious about it.
