2nd practice: Caterham is the fastest Renault-powered car. :up: :D
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2nd practice: Caterham is the fastest Renault-powered car. :up: :D
First 'off' of the year of course goes to Massa so surprise there :D
Save of the year so far must be Koby at the end of FP2. Coming onto the SF straight, got well out of shape and somehow got it all going in the right direction again without nerfing the wall.
No surprise to see Massa off in tricky conditions. He's just reaffirming my belief more and more every session that he is simply not good enough to be a Ferrari driver.
As Vettel said though, the pants come down in qualifying and everybody shows their bits. We'll see where everyone really stands tomorrow but I think Mercedes may very well be a force to be reckoned with.
Mercedes are right up there by the look of it. McLaren were treating FP as more of a shake down than an out and out pace session (I hope), Red Bull looked a bit off in terms of top speed but we don't know what revs they were running and Seb apparently wasn't using the DRS much. Ferrari were there or there abouts but the big question is how they manage tyres. Fource India looks tasty as well and the Renault (sorry, Lotus) could be a dark horse.
Hmmmm
Nice to see a Caterham in 8th and a Marussia 12th. Least said about HRT the better.
I think Ferrari can pull-off a respectable performance come race day.... can't wait till they get the car developed with the new bits in 4 races.
Is the 107% rule still in place this year?
For HRT - 107% is the amount of parts still left to fit to the car come qually!!! :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by Koz
Hi pino,Quote:
Originally Posted by pino
If you had asked me, I would have voted for you to take part in pickems. :wave: :)
...only so you can blame him if it goes belly up!!!! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Valve Bounce
Clear for quals probably and definitely clear for the race.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mia 01
Actually, I do my pickems so that I don't fall asleep during the race. :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by SGWilko
If you have problems staying awake during the Oz GP, what about us Europeans? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Valve Bounce
Interesting comment (think it was Hill that said it) about Britney. Apparently he's an AI (I assume Artificial Intelligence) driver in that he gets nothing but the maximum out of the car. I take this to mean he's very fast but not inspirational and can't get that minute edge which is just beyond what the car can do like Hamilton can or Schumacher used to do.
Gotta show that to my kid :D :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
Doesn't appear any different to testing. Merc-AMG look more and more likely that they can break into RBR & McLaren territory.
With the track ramping up tomorrow, quali will be mega!
It will be an interesting race.
Many drivers / teams seem close to each other.
They have certainly made a big leap and I think they will probably be there or thereabouts. I'm still of the feeling McLaren will be fastest in qualifying but in race RBR will be quicker. Merc do look like the 3rd fastest team out there though from current evidence. You can never discount a car that has Ross Brawn's input.Quote:
Originally Posted by wedge
Tyre wear might hurt Merc over the course of the race but certainly it wouldn't surprise me at all to see one of the Merc's on the podium this weekend.
It would be great to see Merc up there challenging for the win, and it would be even better if Ferrari can make it a four team battle for honours this year with McLaren & RB who I think it is safe to say will be there or thereabouts again.
Still...early days!!
Are we talking about racing or about rallying here?Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyL
The band aid solution was not brought in to keep the fans watching, it was brought in to bring clueless fans to watch F1. Marketing crap, that is.Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
Lets just hope that 107% isn't what falls off the car during the qualy...Quote:
Originally Posted by SGWilko
As you say it is the norm today in mot road cars so if they use something similar in F1 they make it even better and faster and more accurate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
PS: 2 weeks ago they did reset the software in my Grand Espace and when I told them that the car drives strangely I learned that it was a proactive system that learns as you drive it. So much about us driving our cars.
then he went immediately on the radio to question if the team had changed anything on his car, when it was clearly driver error LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by The Black Knight
OK! it's fine. The sun is shining, not too hot, and some young ladies in bikinis are sunning themselves next to the swimming pool downstairs. No sign of rain at all.
Good work Valve ;) ) I think "The Scuds" might work well on harder compounds in very warm conditions I dont think the track will be warm enough to make that difference. What do you think for Q2 track 31, and 27 ambient?
I have to say I'm quite enjoying listening to James Allen at the mo. Some will find that hard to believe, but I think it's just hearing a familiar voice again. Listening to his commentary, I really can't see what is quite SO terrible about him. He seems pretty good now these days when you think of how he was when he started a decade ago.
Qualifying Prediction (maybe too late now, but this is what I thought before practice 1)
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton
3.Button
4.Webber
5.Rosberg
6.Alonso
7.Schumacher
8.Massa
9.Grosjean
10.di Resta
11.Hulkenberg
12.Perez
13.Raikkonen
14.Kobayashi
15.Vergne
16.Maldonado
17.Ricciardo
18.Senna
19.Kovalainen
20.Petrov
21.Glock
22.Pic
23.de la Rosa
24.Karthikeyan
Qualifying Prediction after watching FP3
1.Hamilton
2.Vettel
3.Button
4.Schumacher
5.Webber
6.Rosberg
7.Grosjean
8.Raikonnen
9.Kobayashi
10.Ricciado
11.Alonso
12.Perez
13.Hulkenberg
14.Massa
15.Vergne
16.DiResta
17.Maldonado
18.Senna
19.Petrov
20.Kovaleinen
21.Glock
22.Pic
23.Karthikeyan
24.De La Rosa
Oh I wish! Schumacher 4th and hamilton pole hehe!
I've learned over years and years of disappointment (none more so than 10 years ago in 2002), so my prediction is conservative...
1.Hamilton
2.Vettel
3.Alonso
4.Button
5.Shumacher
6.Rosberg
7.Webber
8.Massa
Quals starts at 5 pm here, and I think the track will start to cool down by then, especially if there are clouds around then (no clouds at the moment). I missed P3 as I was otherwise occupied. Don't know if I can watch quals either as I only have one TV these days. I think I'll get stuck into some Champagne instead - good idea!!
Thanks Valve!
here we go! qualifying is under way at last :)
Live timing seems to be broken again :(
Kimi and Felipe have been rather impressive - for the wrong reasons.
Oh, and according to Joe Saward, up in the Media Centre, the car has been nicknamed Clifford, because it seems to be a Big Red Dog. :p
shock Kimi out in Q1!
no worries kimi we know you would have easily made it into Q2
I still think he's pretty darn fast and will be quite racey come tomorrow
the lucky dog is Massa who is probably stealing money from Ferrari at the moment...pathetic
We'll have to see if he can make up ground tomorrow. But give him a chance, he must be rusty.
In case anyone else is having trouble with it: clearing cookies and logging in again has fixed it for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyL
Alonso, off!!!!