F1 Fanatic

Any takers on any?

Vettel on Button. Very fair racing from the pair, and summed up Vettel’s ability to take advantage from almost any situation.

Alonso on Webber on the first lap.

Alonso on Webber for me. Vettel’s pass on Button was good but he did have the advantage of being on fresh options compared to Button’s old primes.

What tyre advantage? Vettel’s tyres may have been a bit fresher and softer, but with the marginal difference between the two compounds and the slow degradation, there can’t have been a huge difference; maybe in a series of corners, but they were on a straight, so maybe he could brake a few meters later, but that’s hardly enough to overtake someone. If you also take the potential importance of the move into account, you can only conclude that it was a great move.

Vettel’s tyres may have been used (in which case he would have done 1 hot lap on them in qualy), but he still had a tyre advantage. The simple fact that his tyres were *newer* means he had more grip. Add to that that he had softer tyres, he meant he had even more grip than Button. Also, necrodethmortem, they surely were on a straight – but newer tyres also allow you to brake later – which is exactly what Vettel did.

Having said all this, I thought the Vettel-Button move was good but not extraordinary.
Alonso’s on Webber, on the other hand, was proper hardcore stuff.

Alonso on Webber super late braking and after he passed Webber went into the inside nicely and avoided Maldonado.

Vettel had a huge tyre advantage and should have actually passed Button a lot earlier. But the move in itself was quite good. Alonso on Webber was the pass of the day for me. He’s probably the only driver who passes other top cars on lap1,where drivers are generally not very aggressive.