Korean GP Thread [Archive] - Motorsport Forums

The Black Knight

14th October 2011, 11:30

Some time in the night Michael [Schumacher] came as well and joined us and we had a couple of drinks together. I think after he came I felt much worse as I started mixing a little bit, which wasn't the best strategy.
Sebastian Vettel admits he got his strategy wrong on Sunday night when celebrating his second world championship

Oh so many innuendos!

wedge

14th October 2011, 15:06

Green(ish) track for quali and race.

Should be fun!

driveace

14th October 2011, 15:51

Well lets hope we dont get another stupid thread about who Lewis is going to collide with,as he is going to have a good race this weekend ,i hope. Korea will there be enough spectators ,or is it too expensive for them ?

Dave B

14th October 2011, 17:36

Korea will there be enough spectators ,or is it too expensive for them ?
Friday practice played out to almost empty grandstands, although I'm sure the weather didn't help. If it were North Korea you could be sure the government would have bussed in thousands of loyal supporters to make the country look good on the telly!

Dave B

14th October 2011, 18:24

... the second wasn't much more useful for learning anything apart from that the pit lane exit is in a stupid position.

F1 drivers to be warned with lights about rivals exiting the pits in Korea - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95358)

Formula 1 drivers will be warned via lights on the main straight about rivals exiting the pits at the Korean circuit, in a bid to avoid a repeat of the Nico Rosberg/Jaime Alguersuari collision.

The design of the pitlane exit at the Korean Grand Prix means cars exiting the pits join the track on the outside of Turn 1 - which sets up the scenario of any car that runs wide having the potential to collide with one that is coming on to the circuit.

Smart move :up:

truefan72

14th October 2011, 22:00

I'm certainly glad I didn't wake up at stupid o'clock for the first session, the second wasn't much more useful for learning anything apart from that the pit lane exit is in a stupid position.

The pitlane was not a problem last year in 5 sessions there
it wasn't a problem this year in FP1 and FP2 but one out of control Rosberg, slams into a Torro Rosso who wasn't even close to interfering with the racing line and now it is is a problem?
I don't think so!

truefan72

14th October 2011, 22:02

Well lets hope we dont get another stupid thread about who Lewis is going to collide with,as he is going to have a good race this weekend ,i hope.
agreed

will there be enough spectators ,or is it too expensive for them ?

It was sold out on sunday last year, and many stayed despite the absolutely horrible weather
so lets save the circuit bashing until after the race

truefan72

14th October 2011, 22:03

Friday practice played out to almost empty grandstands, although I'm sure the weather didn't help. If it were North Korea you could be sure the government would have bussed in thousands of loyal supporters to make the country look good on the telly!

did you watch last year's race?

ioan

14th October 2011, 23:06

The pitlane was not a problem last year in 5 sessions there
it wasn't a problem this year in FP1 and FP2 but one out of control Rosberg, slams into a Torro Rosso who wasn't even close to interfering with the racing line and now it is is a problem?
I don't think so!

Exactly!

ioan

14th October 2011, 23:07

Koz

15th October 2011, 04:08

Mike the chopper :D

Koz

15th October 2011, 06:22

And once again we see incompetence from Williams. Great job.

F1boat

15th October 2011, 07:22

Well done, Lewis! Fantastic job, to break the RBR series in such difficult stage of his career. I hope for a good, clean race tomorrow, with great fight between the Macca boys, Seb and who knows, maybe Fernando?

truefan72

15th October 2011, 07:27

the race is setting up to be an exciting one
Glad Hamilton finally broke the RBR pole streak
:)

I missed the qualy for the 2nd straight race
the F1 website said 2am
but it was at 1am
ugh

jens

15th October 2011, 08:25

Hamilton has been really impressive, back to his best. Gap to Button was also 0,3-0,5 seconds for most of the qualifying, like it used to be more often in the past. Let's see if this time he can take care of the tyres well enough too to come out on top in the race. Only have to say a bit disappointing that RBR's run of poles ended. Would have liked to see history of one team taking all poles during the season. :p :

F1boat

15th October 2011, 09:09

Only have to say a bit disappointing that RBR's run of poles ended. Would have liked to see history of one team taking all poles during the season. :p :

Yes. On the other hand I am torn about whether I want to see Seb setting a new record for most poles, or whether I prefer the record of Nige to survive. I have really warmed to Vettel this season, but Mansell will be special for me - he won the first F1 race I ever watched, the 1992 German GP.

DexDexter

15th October 2011, 09:52

A noteworthy point is that Massa has woken up from his coma, he outqualified Alonso once again.

Malbec

15th October 2011, 10:54

A noteworthy point is that Massa has woken up from his coma, he outqualified Alonso once again.

Thats with Massa having an older spec front wing too.

Glad to see both Lewis and Massa back on form (in a good way). Hope both of them shine tomorrow!

jens

15th October 2011, 11:00

Massa has outqualified Alonso 4 times out of the last 6 occasions, but alas his race pace has always left wishing for more. If not before, then after mid-race he starts dropping backwards.

Dave B

15th October 2011, 13:10

CaptainRaiden

15th October 2011, 13:25

Gob-smacking pole by Lewis. Beautiful laps all throughout qualifying. I seriously thought Vettel was gonna get pole again in Q3, but Lewis showed today why he's still considered the best driver on the grid.

Let's hope it doesn't go all tits up in race though. But as the Korean track surface is not too abrasive, and the Mclaren isn't too hard on its tyres either, I expect a Lewis win here if everything goes to plan.

CaptainRaiden

15th October 2011, 13:27

BTW what's up with the lack of post pole celebration by Lewis and the glum face in the press conference afterwards? Something wrong in his personal life that the media doesn't know about perhaps?

jens

15th October 2011, 13:40

BTW what's up with the lack of post pole celebration by Lewis and the glum face in the press conference afterwards? Something wrong in his personal life that the media doesn't know about perhaps?

To me he looked more like mellowed and, well, extremely calmed, perhaps even philosophical. Leaving an impression that he has had a mental reset and is trying to re-build his career from here onwards. Something like "Okay, F1 is tough and as talented I may be, good results are not coming automatically. Pole position is a good start, but a lot of work needs to be done to start getting top results consistently and fight for further titles." Let's see, what is going to happen from here onwards, but he looked so determined to be concentrated and committed 100% of the time and not allow any more mistakes into his driving, so perhaps he is really going to win the race in style too.

kfzmeister

15th October 2011, 14:25

Let's hope it doesn't go all tits up in race though. But as the Korean track surface is not too abrasive, and the Mclaren isn't too hard on its tyres either

Unfortunately Lewis will thrash his tires way too soon. Vettel and Lewis are on some serious emotional fuel and will seriously race all out tomorrow. Should be an exciting first few corners/ lap...
Button's the one to watch tomorrow, as well as Alonso over the race distance.
I bet both will have a podium tomorrow.

Dr. Krogshöj

15th October 2011, 14:25

No penalty for Vettel after his short cut - amazed it was investigated to be honest, it's obvious he gained no advantage from it. Great to see a non-RBR pole, looks like we might actually have a fight on our hands for once! :D

I wish they used that short cut anyway. Watching the cars crawling through those three slow turns is painful. Turn 4 would remain a pretty good outbraking zone but the track would have more flow to it.

Robinho

15th October 2011, 21:00

I think Lewis' demeanour was purely to provide some shade to Seb's light and come over a bit differently from the excited "thats what i'm talking about" messages. Plus he has done well in qually several times recently and its gone wrong on race day, a win tomorrow and I think you'll see lift in his spirits, right now he's painfully aware that the job is only half done

Andrewmcm

15th October 2011, 23:26

I wish they used that short cut anyway. Watching the cars crawling through those three slow turns is painful. Turn 4 would remain a pretty good outbraking zone but the track would have more flow to it.

Probably not enough run off at what would become Turn 5 to let them run that part of the track. A strange thing to say given the last section of the track is lined by concrete, but I'd imagine that's the reason for the twisty bit. That and giving the grandstands more time to look at the cars.

Anyone know what the weather forecast is for the race?

AndyL

16th October 2011, 08:54

That'll have closed up the fight for 2nd in the drivers' championship quite nicely.

ioan

16th October 2011, 09:07

... but Lewis showed today why he's still considered the best driver on the grid.

By whom?

truefan72

16th October 2011, 09:13

it was an entertaining race,
too bad hamilton could not stick with Vettel at the beginning
Now that both the WDC and WCC have bee settled, we can now go on to enjoy tha last 3 races
looking forward to India

ioan

16th October 2011, 09:15

Is the Indian track ready for race? Didn't here much about it since a month or so.

ioan

16th October 2011, 09:18

You are there?

Ah, this stupid automatic fill out. My bad, have to double check my posts.

jens

16th October 2011, 09:46

Interesting race. Vettel reigned supreme again. :up: In this weekend it was discussed that McLaren seems superior, but looks like over a race it was the opposite, also Webber was all over Hamilton in the second half of the race. Perhaps due to lack of dry running teams were unable to predict tyre wears and car performances properly.

Hamilton with his new seemingly calm mood has finally made one step in the right direction, but it wasn't easy, as he was probably struggling with tyre wear again and three drivers got held up by him in the end.

First lap action was great. Vettel passing Hamilton and a tremendous scrap for positions 3-6. But no contact, which indicates the professional level of the drivers. :)

Battling hard against Ferraris cost Rosberg one position in the end. By 2012 at latest both Massa and Rosberg have to find a solution, how to manage tyres and keep fighting all race long, not merely during half of it.

ioan

16th October 2011, 09:50

Not sure about Rosberg, but Massa fades away as soon as Ferrari screw him over, like his 6.4 pit stop this time around.

F1boat

16th October 2011, 09:59

Great and entertaining race. Vettel was brilliant again, this was a classic convincing win. Hamilton also drove very well to defend against Mark Webber and deserves praise for his 2nd place. The rest was solid, even if uninspiring. :)

Knock-on

16th October 2011, 11:07

Pretty disappointing that the stands were 1/3 full at most on average.

Not really a fan of Korea to be honest. It's just 2 straights, a load of twists which join them up and huge run-offs that don't penalise a driver at all for a mistake.

Dave B

16th October 2011, 11:13

so lets save the circuit bashing until after the race

Okay, let's crack on:

Pretty disappointing that the stands were 1/3 full at most on average.

Not really a fan of Korea to be honest. It's just 2 straights, a load of twists which join them up and huge run-offs that don't penalise a driver at all for a mistake.

I agree about the crowds, pretty disappointing, and about the first sector of the race. However I do have a soft spot for the left-right-left-right-left-a-bit-then-right-again sector. It's not Tilke's finest work, but neither is it his worst coughChinacough.

Robinho

16th October 2011, 11:22

fantastic race, great clean racing between Webber and Hamilton, passing and repassing through the fast stuff, good comebacks from Button and Alonso, great stuff from Vettel at the front as always

Dave B

16th October 2011, 11:44

5 place grid penalty in India for Petrov.

wedge

16th October 2011, 15:24

Okay, let's crack on:

I agree about the crowds, pretty disappointing, and about the first sector of the race. However I do have a soft spot for the left-right-left-right-left-a-bit-then-right-again sector. It's not Tilke's finest work, but neither is it his worst coughChinacough.

The last two thirds is like a kart track. The section really needs elevation changes if it needs any forgiveness from me.

Prefer China to Korea with its medium and high speed corners.

Brown, Jon Brow

16th October 2011, 15:59

Okay, let's crack on:

I agree about the crowds, pretty disappointing, and about the first sector of the race. However I do have a soft spot for the left-right-left-right-left-a-bit-then-right-again sector. It's not Tilke's finest work, but neither is it his worst coughChinacough.

Don't you mean Valencia?

The worst thing about Korea is its surroundings. It looks like such a miserable place. Maybe it will look better if they develop the propsed 'street section'.

jens

16th October 2011, 17:43

I find the second half of the Korean track quite interesting and challenging at least from driver's point of view. Reminds the beginning of Suzuka and it's esses. Challenging for the drivers to keep the car on the right line.

The Black Knight

16th October 2011, 21:12

Just read this article from the Telegraph and Lewis sure is being hard on himself. The guy seems to be in a bad place and after his amazing drive today I thought he'd be abit more upbeat.

Korean Grand Prix 2011: sullen Lewis Hamilton refuses to celebrate superb second place for McLaren - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8830162/Korean-Grand-Prix-2011-sullen-Lewis-Hamilton-refuses-to-celebrate-superb-second-place-for-McLaren.html)

It was great to see him back on form today however and hopefully another win before the season ends will give him the motivation to sort himself out during the winter break. We see an awful lot of criticism for the lad yet he has fully accepted his error's this year which has to be to his credit IMO.

I agree completely with this. He has to sort himself out but with all the criticism he has received this year it has got to be hard. He has been the unluckiest driver on the grid this year but we all know he still has the talent to beat anyone on his day. It just seems to me like everything has boiled up and he needs a break. The most important thing is that he showed today he still has massive speed and really Button was not match for him in qualifying or race. He is still, without a doubt, McLaren's best driver and he needs to get his out of this slum he is in.

I honestly also get the feeling that he is just fed up with the press at the moment really doesn't want to have anything to do with them. When you think of the recent great drivers in the sport such as Schumacher, Hakkinen, Alonso they all had their own way of dealing with the pressures of F1. Schumacher never let press pressure get to him but I feel that Hamilton does and that's his weak spot and he needs to work on it. It doesn't matter what is written on a paper, or in a F1 forum or wherever. **** the begrudgers and go out and do his own racing his way.

Hawkmoon

17th October 2011, 09:02

The most important thing is that he showed today he still has massive speed and really Button was not match for him in qualifying or race. He is still, without a doubt, McLaren's best driver and he needs to get his out of this slum he is in.

While I agree with you that Hamilton is better than Button I think there is plenty of doubt about who's the best. I suspect that much of that doubt resides in Hamilton's head.

When Button joined McLaren only the most ardent Button fans thought he would be a match for Hamilton. Hamilton had 'beaten' a 2 time WDC in his rookie year, won the WDC in his second year and made Kovalainen look rather crap in the process. McLaren was 'his' team and there was no way Button was going to get near him, regardless of Button's 2009 title. After all, Button had limped to the title and Hamilton ended 2009 winning races in a car that had business being near the top step of the podium.

Fast forward 2 years and while Hamilton beat Button in the 2010 standings, Button held his own for most of the season and finished much closer to Hamilton than most had thought possible. This year Button has barely put a wheel wrong while Hamilton has had arguably his worst season in F1. Button gets a long term contract extension and McLaren is no longer Hamilton's team, it's 'their' team.

Keep in mind that this is merely my own speculative opinion but I think Hamilton has struggled to deal with his teammate's performance and isn't coping with the pressure, most of which is self inflicted. I think this may be the cause, at least in part, of the number of errors Hamilton has made this year.

Mia 01

17th October 2011, 10:52

jens

17th October 2011, 20:43

He has been the unluckiest driver on the grid this year but we all know he still has the talent to beat anyone on his day. It just seems to me like everything has boiled up and he needs a break. The most important thing is that he showed today he still has massive speed and really Button was not match for him in qualifying or race. He is still, without a doubt, McLaren's best driver and he needs to get his out of this slum he is in.

Button was no match in the race? He finished just a handful of seconds behind and was faster in the last stint.

I also don't think Hamilton has been the unluckiest driver. If anything, Button has actually been more unlucky, suffering two DNFs due to car failures. Hamilton has had none of such problems.

Hamilton has potential for more, but let's not go overboard. Current Button is certainly capable of matching him, at least in race trim.

In an answer to Hawkmoon's opinion. IMO the biggest destabilizer of Hamilton's mentality has been the success of Vettel and not Button. Hamilton started 'collapsing' in mid-season, when he was still in front of Button in points, but Vettel was running away with the championship.

AndyL

18th October 2011, 17:42

In an answer to Hawkmoon's opinion. IMO the biggest destabilizer of Hamilton's mentality has been the success of Vettel and not Button. Hamilton started 'collapsing' in mid-season, when he was still in front of Button in points, but Vettel was running away with the championship.

There must be more to it than that though, his psyche didn't seem suffer in the same way in 2009.

jens

18th October 2011, 18:12

There must be more to it than that though, his psyche didn't seem suffer in the same way in 2009.

2009 perhaps felt more like a one-off, having freshly won WDC the previous year. But by now Hamilton has had a three-year drought of WDC's and desperation could start creeping in - "when again?"

Have to say though - Alonso has had a longer period of failing to win the title, but he seems to be coping with the situation well, hoping that one day hard work pays off and if it doesn't - well, that's life.

CaptainRaiden

19th October 2011, 11:22

By whom?

Oh I don't know, let me see:

1. People who are fans of Formula 1, not trolls.
2. People who appreciate aggressive, on the edge, ballsy racing.
3. People who are not fans of drivers who deliberately take other drivers out of the race for championship points.
4. People who are not fans of drivers who park in the middle of the track during qualifying. I mean who does that??
5. People who are not obsessed with German drivers.

Bottom line is, there's a reason that Mclaren was on pole. It's Lewis Hamilton.
There's a reason the Mclaren finished 2nd and split the two Red Bulls. It's Lewis Hamilton.
There's a reason why Mark Webber in a much faster Red Bull couldn't overtake the slower Mclaren in race trim. It's Lewis Hamilton.

When his head is in the right place, he is the faster and better driver at Mclaren, and probably even the best on the grid. I'd like to see how Vettel does if the roles were reversed and he was driving the Mclaren, and Lewis was in the Red Bull.

kfzmeister

19th October 2011, 14:31

Oh I don't know, let me see:

1. People who are fans of Formula 1, not trolls.
2. People who appreciate aggressive, on the edge, ballsy racing.
3. People who are not fans of drivers who deliberately take other drivers out of the race for championship points.
4. People who are not fans of drivers who park in the middle of the track during qualifying. I mean who does that??
5. People who are not obsessed with German drivers.

Bottom line is, there's a reason that Mclaren was on pole. It's Lewis Hamilton.
There's a reason the Mclaren finished 2nd and split the two Red Bulls. It's Lewis Hamilton.
There's a reason why Mark Webber in a much faster Red Bull couldn't overtake the slower Mclaren in race trim. It's Lewis Hamilton.

When his head is in the right place, he is the faster and better driver at Mclaren, and probably even the best on the grid. I'd like to see how Vettel does if the roles were reversed and he was driving the Mclaren, and Lewis was in the Red Bull.

Hmmm, i'm wondering who your favorite driver is?

CaptainRaiden

19th October 2011, 14:36

Hmmm, i'm wondering who your favorite driver is?

Michael Schumacher.

Dave B

19th October 2011, 16:42

It was sold out on sunday last year, and many stayed despite the absolutely horrible weather
so lets save the circuit bashing until after the race

Don't bother, they will bash the circuit, the country and so on... Never understood why.

Just a little note re the full grandstands last year (versus the thousands of empty seats this year):

The Korean Grand Prix provided Formula 1 fans with a super performance from Sebastian Vettel, but the hopes of an increase in spectators from 160,000 to 200,000 over the weekend did not become a reality, despite the fact that ticket prices were dropped by 30 percent. The financial results may not be very different, however, as in 2010 thousands of tickets were given away to ensure that the grandstands were full.
Source and full story: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/f1-in-korea/

You're welcome.