2012 Korean GP

[steveaki13]

Unless I am blind, still no thread for this weekends race.

Its in a soulless, heartless place so what do we expect this weekend.

[Koz]

Whoa, what happened there. Lewis was nearly screwed!

[gloomyDAY]

McLaren trying to drop the ball again on Lewis, and Alonso was slow. :D

[donKey jote]

Morning girls :p

[donKey jote]

Button got screwed instead :s

[Robinho]

Whole bunch of guys improving under yellow flags there, that didn't look right, I can see some times being lost there

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[gloomyDAY]

Button got screwed instead :s Bunsen got burned.

[andyone]

That was close in the pits

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Koz]

"Why did you not tell me about Massa? Waaaaaaaaaaaaa"

[donKey jote]

Alonso looked happy in the interview. :)

[zako85]

It was obvious that Webber was pusing his car to the last limits. It was almost like taking a stallion. The question is now.. is he going to have to yield to Vettel tomorrow? I suspect it won't happen, given his history of bad starts.

[A FONDO]

Looks like I'll skip this race again. Webber will lose 2-3 places at the start, Bieber will fly away thanks to the car advantage and thats it all. Even Grojan is too far behind to shake the leading positions.

[Zico]

Looks like I'll skip this race again. Webber will lose 2-3 places at the start, Bieber will fly away thanks to the car advantage and thats it all. Even Grojan is too far behind to shake the leading positions.


Whenever I have the same feelings I always watch the first few laps just in case we have a major race changing incident. You never know... there could be a collision beween both RB's at the first corner which may allow for a proper Hamilton/Alonso ding-dong and a good race?

[steveaki13]

Good job by the top 4. I too just hope Hamilton can pass Vettel off the start and Webber has a poor one, to keep the race interesting, otherwise I see Seb passing Mark quite quickly and running off and leaving the championship almost done and dusted.

[Knock-on]

Well, we know Seb likes to aggressively move over at the start and Alonso gets quite punchy. Hopefully these two come up against each other a d let Lewis back into the Championship :)

[steveaki13]

Lewis might take the lead, but when lapping Grosjean his race will be over. ;)

[zako85]

I am certainly not the kind of person who needs to see a crash or wheel to wheel banging to consider a race enjoyable. Even on a "boring" weekend, Formula 1 races are usually fun to watch: beautiful circuits, beautiful cars, and high speeds. In the last two years, a couple of races did almost put me to sleep, Hungary this year and Valencia in 2011.

My prediction is that Webber loses his position to Vettel early in the race, perhaps on first lap. Alonso takes third position as Hamilton is having a slow pit stop, then passes Webber. For the rest of race Webber and Hamilton are duking it out for the last spot on the podium.

[TheFamousEccles]

My prediction is that Webber will run away with the race, in an imperious display of fast and precise and decisive driving skill.

[Mauri A]

Who is this Mr Gutjahr, one of the stewards of the race? He has told to the press that if Grosjean crashes he will be out from several races.
Edit: Found in Google,President of FIA Hill Climb Committee. Are there much hills in Korea?

[A FONDO]

My prediction is that Webber loses his position to Vettel early in the race, perhaps on first lap. Alonso takes third position as Hamilton is having a slow pit stop, then passes Webber. For the rest of race Webber and Hamilton are duking it out for the last spot on the podium.

+ Perez getting among the top drivers in the middle of the race, struggling with 2-year old tyres for a 1-stopper
+ Kimi complaining for lack of power over the radio while cruising behind the leaders and waiting to inherit somebody's position
+ Indians somehow screwing Hulkenberg in order to fall behind Resta
+ foolish retirement from MSC/Vernes/Senna

[driveace]

Well Whitmarsh did not even Lewis by name,in post race comment,and their lead driver for next year is starting 11th .Hope they are fair in the race tomorrow and don't screw Lewis .Definitely think that Webber will lose time in pits stop to give Vettel victory tomorrow

[DexDexter]

Predictions:

- Vettel will pass Webber immediately and disappear into the distance.
- Kimi will have a bad start and lose a couple of positions and follow slower cars for the whole race.
- Grosjean DNF
- Perez will have an incident.

[chac47]

My predictions: Vettel and Webber DNF. Hamilton, Button and Grosjean on the podium.

[Koz]

Alonso will jump Hamilton at the start and tango with the Red Bulls. All three will go off, Lewis will win. With the two Lotii taking the remaining places on the podium.
:D

[donKey jote]

Alonso reckons the dirty side will get nabbed by the clean side at the start.
Let's see who survives the Lotii start this time ;) :mad: :p

[donKey jote]

Earwiggo :D

[donKey jote]

P3 :D

[donKey jote]

Button :(

[Garry Walker]

nice teamorders by Red Bull, pathetic team, I hope both of these idiots crash out.

[donKey jote]

Rosberg out

[Garry Walker]

Well, race over as far as 1-2 are concerned, RB again in a different league to others.
Hopefully Alonso and Hamilton can get at least some points.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Looks like Kobayashi has accidentally taken Grosjean's medication

[Garry Walker]

I know this is early days, but Massa is just so much better the last few races than he was maybe 7-8 races ago. Just a different man.

[donKey jote]

yellow flags til the end of the race? :dozey:

[Garry Walker]

How boring is this race. Newey really deserves another title.

[steveaki13]

Good work there. 10 laps to get rid of that Mercedes.

Toro Rosso's v Williams is a good fight

[andyone]

now that is what we call a pit stop McLaren

[steveaki13]

Have I gone back in time to 2011? It seems Red Bull & its drivers have finally got it together and it will be easy now i fear

[donKey jote]

Pérez: Ham is faster than you :p

[Garry Walker]

Have I gone back in time to 2011? It seems Red Bull & its drivers have finally got it together and it will be easy now i fear
Red Bull has been the best car of the year clearly, but at the moment they are dominant. We are looking at over half a second per lap quicker car, so bieber has his worthless title locked up.
In that car anyone non-retarded could win.

The credit must go to Newey and his team for their brilliant work.

[Koz]

Can't log into Live Timings??
Anyone else having issues?

[dj_bytedisaster]

Wow, Garry. We're only 20 laps into the race and you've already unloaded 4 times at Vettel. It's not even half-way over and he certainly isn't home yet.

Massa seems to be riding good at the moment. Looks like he finally got his mojo back.

[donKey jote]

working fine here.
Ham's cooked? Losing 1 sec a lap :s

[steveaki13]

Hamilton is really struggling now. Whats going on?

Maybe its Mclaren wanting to retire Lewis so he doesnt beat Button to much.

[donKey jote]

Ron Dennis strikes again :dozey: :p

[donKey jote]

Webber's times slipping a bit now too

[steveaki13]

I do feel sorry for Lewis, he has some problem maybe but he is battling not to let Kimi past easy. He is a fighter.

[donKey jote]

classic Ham-Rakka :up:

[longisland]

Great comeback on Kimi!

[steveaki13]

Mark v Fernando.

[steveaki13]

Lewis showing his class here, defending somehow against DRS and with a problem and Kimi showing his class by fighting hard but not crashing into him and realising when to yield. Fantastic racing

[steveaki13]

Ron strikes again in the pit stop. Wow Ron really is a nasty man

[donKey jote]

:laugh:

[donKey jote]

nice flexi-front there on the Red Bull :p

[dj_bytedisaster]

The Mercedes of Schumacher looks ridiculously slow. And for Pete's sake, how many more pitstops can McLaren botch up this year. Good to see Ferrari at least putting up some sort of a fight.

[Malbec]

I know this is early days, but Massa is just so much better the last few races than he was maybe 7-8 races ago. Just a different man.

He's been reeling Alonso in slowly but surely for most of the race. Only 2 seconds behind him now.

Fernando, Felipe is faster than you, do you understand?

[longisland]

Yup but Seb is the speed GOD of Korean GP

[Malbec]

Very ambitious from Perez, would be nice if he didn't lose his front wing at this stage of the race

[dj_bytedisaster]

He's been reeling Alonso in slowly but surely for most of the race. Only 2 seconds behind him now.

Fernando, Felipe is faster than you, do you understand?

I think the latest team radio was quite obvious that 2 seconds behind is, where he'll stay ;)

[truefan72]

this situation at ferrari is pathetic, I'm sorry

Massa is clearly faster than webber by about 1 second a lap
Alonso is not catching up to Webber

so Why are they holding Massa?
this is not racing and is not even good strategy
Massa has a chance to pass Webber and perhaps challenge Vettel, which might cause vettel to make a mistake

this is a travesty

[Malbec]

Lewis better off pitting for supersofts and going crazy in the last few laps

[donKey jote]

cry us a river truefan :laugh:

[truefan72]

I've already given up on mclaren providing Hamilton with a decent car
how can you be close to the red bulls in qualy but in the race you can;t even keep up with the STR's

I am pretty sure that mclaren is screwing with Hamilton's car
the macs are not that poor in performance

shame that this is going on with mclaren

[longisland]

Fernando is starting to push.... It's a shame Mark had a "bad" start or we may have an interesting race between Seb &Mark but that will never happen

[dj_bytedisaster]

Fernando is starting to push.... It's a shame Mark had a "bad" start or we may have an interesting race between Seb &Mark but that will never happen

Mark had actually a better start than Vettel, but Pole is on the wrong side of the track, because Vettel coming from P2 had the inside line of the first corner. And if you're complaining about a possible team order at RB, you've got to be really upset about the blatant one at Ferrari ;)

[Koz]

Comedy fest for Lewis!

[Koz]

Come on Paul! :D

[dj_bytedisaster]

He's carrying his own green flag :P

[donKey jote]

Vettel's radio trying to make the end of race phase exciting :dozey:

[steveaki13]

Rons now put some astro turf on Lewis car. He is so out of order.

Seriously though. Poor Lewis cant get a break.

[donKey jote]

borefest over

[F1boat]

So happy! Another win for perfect Seb! :)

[dj_bytedisaster]

borefest over

Wasn't boring at all. Not really a nail-biter, but I think we saw quite a few good battles, even though you had to look at the midfield for that. It seemed like the Torro Rosso's where always duking it out with somebody. Bit of a procession upfront, but that's down to RB being quickest at the moment and McLaren being both unlucky and inept. Lewis definitely had the speed yesterday, but today he only went backwards...
Ferraris team order didn't help either. Massa could have perhaps caught Webber. He clearly was the faster Ferrari today.

[steveaki13]

Well that was a dull race really. Good job for Seb, but its not making for an interesting title fight.

[steveaki13]

It did have some fun battles but only really 6th backwards. The front was very predictable.

[Dave B]

this situation at ferrari is pathetic, I'm sorry

Massa is clearly faster than webber by about 1 second a lap
Alonso is not catching up to Webber

so Why are they holding Massa?
this is not racing and is not even good strategy
Massa has a chance to pass Webber and perhaps challenge Vettel, which might cause vettel to make a mistake

this is a travesty
I totally agree. Massa could have challenged Webber and possibly caused a mistake, or forced Mark to chew his tyres up. With team orders being completely legal, he could have then let Alonso back past and converted a 3-4 into a 2-3 finish. I understand the need to maximise Alonso's championship points, but Ferrari missed a trick here in my opinion.

Massa will never, ever, be allowed to finish in front of his team mate. His recent performances may have been good enough to secure his seat, but I can't help thinking he'd be better off at Sauber or Lotus challenging for potential wins, rather than constantly taking it up the bum for Fernando.

[N4D13]

Seriously... I actually stopped watching the race and started doing something else because I was bored, and I missed the first time that Massa has been faster than Alonso? :mad: Was it genuine speed or did Alonso have any problem with his car or his tyres (e.g. graining)?

[Dave B]

Seriously... I actually stopped watching the race and started doing something else because I was bored, and I missed the first time that Massa has been faster than Alonso? :mad: Was it genuine speed or did Alonso have any problem with his car or his tyres (e.g. graining)?
Genuine speed. Massa kept pumping in green and purple sectors, but once he was 2 seconds behind Alonso he was told that he should maintain the gap. If Fernando had let him past without a fight (legally now) he had a credible chance of overtaking Webber and then dictating his pace, allowing Alonso to have a go.

[donKey jote]

it sure was genuine, but from there to think he could have matched a cruising Webber is a bit of a stretch IMDO :)

[F1boat]

I think that Ferrari want Alonso to feel confident and comfortable, because now the crucial races for the championship come.

[Dave B]

it sure was genuine, but from there to think he could have matched a cruising Webber is a bit of a stretch IMDO :)
If Mark was cruising then it was to protect his tyres: he needed them to last two more laps than Vettel's who we now know was almost on the bare metal at the end of the race. If Massa had been released then Red Bull couldn't have afforded to relax, and would either have to concede the place or risk Mark having similar tyre issues to Seb.

Obviously I say all that with the benefit of hindsight, but I still believe that in protecting Alonso Ferrari missed the chance to pick up an extra place today. And I repeat: even if the plan didn't work, worst case scenario they could have reshuffled position - quite legally - and given Fernando his P3 back.

[dj_bytedisaster]

I agree, overly conservative by Ferrari. Even if Massa couldn't have overtaken Webber he would have at least forced him out of cruising and that would have toasted his tires. Looks like the RB was very hard on the front right and Ferrari should have exploited that.

[donKey jote]

Maybe they didn't know how bad Red Bull's tyres really were or maybe they knew how their own tyres were.
A massive load of "ifs" and they took the conservative option.

[Dave B]

Maybe they didn't know how bad Red Bull's tyres really were or maybe they knew how their own tyres were.
A massive load of "ifs" and they took the conservative option.
I accept there are a lot of "ifs" but the fact is they didn't need to be conservative. At worst, Massa would be been stuck behind Mark, unable to overtake, at which point he could have given the place back to Fernando. Ferrari were instrumental in getting team orders legalised, and yet seem utterly clueless when it comes to properly exploiting them.

Go and watch Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden in the BTCC: two team mates in a fierce battle for the championship, and yet able to orchestrate position swaps to gain bonus points for leading races, and to hunt down rivals on each others' behalf.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Yeah, they had so many options with Massa. But I suppose they wanted to max points for the constructors championship. Had Massa gone after Webber he could have toasted his tires, requiring an additional stop, which would have lost them points. But that's all speculation of course.

With Alonso's chances to hold on to the championship dwindling, they are probably concentrating on beating McLaren to runner-up in the constructors championship, which would make a difference of several million bucks next year.

[donKey jote]

I accept there are a lot of "ifs" but the fact is they didn't need to be conservative. At worst, Massa would be been stuck behind Mark, unable to overtake, at which point he could have given the place back to Fernando. Ferrari were instrumental in getting team orders legalised, and yet seem utterly clueless when it comes to properly exploiting them.
I agree, but at the time I think the gap to Webber was ~5 Seconds with ~10 laps to go. I'm sure they knew the options but probably felt it was too risky.

[longisland]

It's a known fact that mark's start has cost him position in the past so lets not jump to the conclusion there's team orders in RedBull because I surely didn't imply that. In fact, Christian Horner has stated publicly the team allows the drivers to race and took a lot of stick from the Istanbul incident. Horner did say before the race the objective today is to make sure both drivers give each other space to get maximum points. Sounds like a reasonable team order if there's one. Hope you're happy

[driveace]

I was up at 5.30 am to watch the race,but when it turned into a procession with Vettel out front and Lewis dropping back,which we now know was due to a broken anti roll bar at the rear ,I went back to bed.When Vettel leads on the first lap were in for a boring race !

[dj_bytedisaster]

When Vettel leads on the first lap were in for a boring race !

Only if all you ever care for is "your driver" winning. While the podium positions were decided rather early, the race itself wasn't so bad. The midfield had several exciting battles. People are forgetting so easily. Just 8 years ago we saw races that had a single digit number of overtaking moves, while these days we get that many in the first 10 laps. Why do people label races boring, only because the driver they're having a man-crush on isn't winning? Do you actually watch it for the race or just to see someone specific to win?

[zako85]

The 2012 "unpredictability" is over. The 2011 season is back. RBR assumes its usual position. Mercedes is again where it was, this time slower than Lotus. The only changes are that Ferrari is experiencing a surge in form, but not quite enough to catch RBR, while McLaren has become quite inconsistent.

[steveaki13]

The midfield battles were good. I really enjoyed them.

[driveace]

How many times when Vettel has been on pole and /or takes the lead on the first
Lap has he not gone on to win the race? It was very obvious from a very early part of the race that it was going to be Vettel,Webber and Alonso .Did you honestly think that Ferrari were going to let Massa attach Alonso ?

[dj_bytedisaster]

There were several races, where Vettel didn't walk off with it from pole, but in most cases it involved mechanical failures. Being able to get out of the DRS zone before it is enabled is probably his biggest strength. His wheel-to-wheel skills have been doubted and discussed ad nauseam. Quite frankly, I expected Alonso to leapfrog Webber, but Mark chose to not suck this time, enabling RB a bigger points haul than they should have taken. I suppose that the difference between Ferrari and RB is just too big and with Ferraris wind tunnel being useless for most of the season, they are at a considerable disadvantage.