2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Thread

[airshifter]

Bonus points to Bottas for being the only one of the top three qualifiers to knows how to wear a freakin' baseball cap.

As much as I respect his skills as a driver, I have to laugh when I see Hamilton with his bonehead style of wearing his baseball cap. Trying to portray the street cred just doesn't cut it when you're a multi millionaire.




Solid qually, and well deserved pole by Nico. I think Lewis is in the cool seat though, and I doubt he will do anything to risk his chances. He's been in this position before, and played it cool until Vettel pressed the issue and he had to fight for a position to win the title.

Great job by Bottas as well, and it would be great to see him get in the mix up front. This is probably his best chance at getting on the top step this year, because if he can stay in touch with the Mercedes cars they aren't going to battle him too hard, as they both have so much to lose. They would have to draw the line to defend hard but not risk the car, and that can be tricky.

I like the changing track when the sun goes down, and it seems like the change allows the setup to come to certain cars for a strong late race charge.

I expect to see a good battle tomorrow.

[steveaki13]

Good Qualifying session.

Credit to Rosberg. Again pulled it out of the bag when he needed it.

The Williams looked good again and for this last round could play a big role as they could be fast enough to keep Hamilton in check.

Nice to see Caterham again and Will Stevens did a great job today.

I have a family gathering at the time of the F****** race tomorrow. I mean what the hell........ I may be able to watch it, but I won't be round here. Even then I could miss the race.

It all sucks massive .......................................

Grrrrrrr

[Tazio]

Have someone record the family BS, and watch it later in the day, we need you live for the race !

[airshifter]

Have someone record the family BS, and watch it later in the day, we need you live for the race !

+1

Steve, we understand family issues and family time. But you really need to get your priorities straight and skip the family this time!

P.S. Just avoid the spoilers. I'd record it too if I had a family function.

[edv]

Pretty clever by Nico, putting in a *gentle* fast lap in Q2 with tires that he'll be starting the race with.

[Whyzars]

That's some dystopian outlook, d' ya wanna talk about it?

The top drivers are talking about who made the least number of mistakes in qualifying.

Drivers didn't used to make mistakes lest they be cleaning gravel out of the intake - or the intake out of a tyre wall, these days they lose a tenth and carry on.


We can't have bobcats pulling cars out of sand traps so what to do?


I'm actually thinking that the track limits need to be impregnated with tiny tyre shredders and be done with it.


Track boundaries are specified for safety and ignoring safety always ends in tears.


BTW, my prediction for the race - Massa smokes Hamilton at the first corner and says something about 2008 and apples...

[The Black Knight]

The top drivers are talking about who made the least number of mistakes in qualifying.

Drivers didn't used to make mistakes lest they be cleaning gravel out of the intake - or the intake out of a tyre wall, these days they lose a tenth and carry on.


We can't have bobcats pulling cars out of sand traps so what to do?


I'm actually thinking that the track limits need to be impregnated with tiny tyre shredders and be done with it.


Track boundaries are specified for safety and ignoring safety always ends in tears.


BTW, my prediction for the race - Massa smokes Hamilton at the first corner and says something about 2008 and apples...

I doubt Massa will smoke Hamilton. He came out after Brazil two weeks ago and said he felt Hanilton deserved the championship as he had done a better campaign than Rosberg. In that interview he seems more begrudging towards the Glock - ha said it was a German that list him the title so if anything it's Rosberg that has to watch out.

Reasonable qualifying. Both Hamilton and Rosberg did everything they need to do. From the onboard of Hamilton I was gutted he wen wide on his first run in Q1 - he was so quick ad absolutely perfect throughout that lap until the second last corner. Pity!

Anyway I think it all is own to the start tomorrow. If both Mercedes get away out front then I think Lewis will stay in second and just pick up the title that he so richly deserves! Looking forward to it!

[Tazio]

I doubt Massa will smoke Hamilton. He came out after Brazil two weeks ago and said he felt Hanilton deserved the championship as he had done a better campaign than Rosberg. In that interview he seems more begrudging towards the Glock - ha said it was a German that list him the title so if anything it's Rosberg that has to watch out.

Reasonable qualifying. Both Hamilton and Rosberg did everything they need to do. From the onboard of Hamilton I was gutted he wen wide on his first run in Q1 - he was so quick ad absolutely perfect throughout that lap until the second last corner. Pity!

Anyway I think it all is own to the start tomorrow. If both Mercedes get away out front then I think Lewis will stay in second and just pick up the title that he so richly deserves! Looking forward to it!

Come on TBK, you know Felipe Baby would love to smoke the Boss, and or Nico, but I do think he might get a little more satisfaction from denying the leader the championship, that's human nature. I'm sure plenty of others would like to have a hand in upsetting the apple cart as well. It is what they have left to race for this season.
Lighten up my man, What happens is what happen. Save your unabashed petty patronizing until after the race I'm sure most of us will give the champ his due then, and you can talk $hit until your face gets hemorrhoids!!
Just kidding dawg!

[driveace]

Does Rosberg set HIS car up to be on pole .AND Lewis sets HIS car up to be good or better towards the end of the race ?
The presenters said some thing like the pole man has only won the race 3 times out of 10 races ?

[Zico]

Does Rosberg set HIS car up to be on pole .AND Lewis sets HIS car up to be good or better towards the end of the race ?
The presenters said some thing like the pole man has only won the race 3 times out of 10 races ?

I'm not sure why anyone would actively seek out a set up optimised for qualy pace to the detriment of race pace in these days of DRS. Its more likely just a slight set-up difference to suit their personal driving styles that just happens to favour Lewis on the majority of race days. Mark Hughes piece on SKYSPORTS maybe offers an insight on the slight set up and driving style differences between the two.



"In the performances of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, there were contrasts and similarities between Austin and Interlagos.

At both venues Rosberg secured pole but Hamilton had better race pace, the difference being that in Brazil Nico was able to use the track position advantage that pole had given him to keep Lewis behind. But both times Rosberg had fine-tuned a better one-lap balance from his car and delivered the big Q3 lap more effectively than Hamilton, whilst in the more variable conditions of the race as the tyres, fuel load and track surface changed Hamilton was better able to improvise.

“The way they have their cars set up is actually quite similar,” said Mercedes’ Paddy Lowe earlier in the season. “I have been in teams where the two drivers have far more extreme set-ups. At McLaren in 2005 we even had to build different front suspension systems because the set ups preferred by Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya contrasted so much. Between Nico and Lewis it’s more just fine tuning.”

That fine-tuning typically includes where each driver prefers the brake bias to be. Hamilton has a natural preference for it to be more rearwards biased than Rosberg – something that played a part in Rosberg being able to keep the rear brakes alive in Montreal after the ERS ceased to function, while Hamilton could not.

As the driver carries some braking into the turn – a common technique in slow-medium speed corners as it helps keep the loads on the tyres more consistent and the car at a more aerodynamically stable attitude – a more rearward brake bias will tend to give the car less stability. The entry phase of the corner will have the rear of the car sliding more than with a more forward-biased set-up. Hamilton is typically more at ease with this than almost any other driver.

"When we first ran Lewis in an F1 car at McLaren in a test, we could see from the traces there was a lot of instability in the car in the braking and corner entry phases – and I mean a lot,” says Lowe. “Enough that our then current race drivers [Raikkonen and Montoya] would have been bitching about it when they came in. But Lewis didn’t mention it. So we pushed him about it, asked him what the car was like on braking and corner entry and he just said, ’fine’."


Brake bias aside, the difference between the two Mercedes drivers isn’t so much in set-up, more one of approach. Rosberg has a more scientific methodology, looks to fine-tune more specifically than Hamilton who typically tends just to find a balance he can work with, then adapt his driving around it. Against someone as clinical and quick as Rosberg, it has meant him frequently being out-qualified.

But car handling traits are never a static thing. Just keeping them consistent over a lap is difficult enough but over a sequence of laps is impossible. Adapting to the variances as the fuel load goes down, the tyres wear/overheat/cool down/grain, the track surface changes etc is a core part of a driver’s skill and in this Hamilton is supreme – because of the adaptability Lowe talks about.


Typically Hamilton uses less fuel than Rosberg too. That ease he has with a little bit of corner entry instability means he can carry more momentum even as the rear tyres are degrading; which in turn means he has less re-accelerating to do, which means using less fuel. It can sometimes be a similar story with the tyres. When the limitation is the longitudinal (ie braking and accelerating) rather than cornering loads, because he’s doing less accelerating, Hamilton is taking less from the rear tyres and in Interlagos as Rosberg gave his in-laps full attack he was out of tyre grip each time. Hamilton stopped between one and two laps later each time and was always quicker – because he had more tyre life left.

Which of the two approaches is better is not clear-cut. At Interlagos is was clearly Rosberg’s. At Austin it was Hamilton’s. Different days, different folk."


http://www1.skysports.com/f1/report/...well-as-set-up