Several F1 drivers voiced complaints about Pirelli’s new hard tyre introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.
Kamui Kobayashi said: “The new superhard compound gives you the feeling you are driving a totally different car. They are so slow.
“This is going to be tricky for everyone and might produce interesting tyre strategies in the race.”
Lewis Hamilton was more critical, describing them as “disastrous”.
The new compounds were supposed to allow drivers to run slightly longer stints, opening up new strategic options.
But the compound has proved very slow. Rubens Barrichello was told during the course of the second practice session they were around two seconds per lap slower.
Here is the data from the second practice session:
Longest stint comparison
- The harder tyre appear to last reasonably well – see Mark Webber’s stint from the beginning of the session below. But they are clearly lacking in performance – though consistent, his lap times are in the 1’29s
- Jenson Button couldn’t mnake the tyres last as well as Webber could, and Ferrari didn’t do a run of comparable length
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
Sebastian Vettel | 88.65 | 88.263 | 88.011 | 88.77 | 98.198 | 88.594 | 96.581 | 88.751 | 101.811 | 91.953 | 89.074 | 89.677 | 97.553 | 90.341 | ||||
Mark Webber | 91.866 | 90.595 | 90.72 | 90.762 | 90.012 | 89.128 | 89.397 | 89.578 | 89.666 | 89.716 | 89.555 | 89.733 | 89.551 | 97.319 | 89.282 | |||
Lewis Hamilton | 89.367 | 89.188 | 88.32 | 94.929 | 89.467 | 91.954 | 89.484 | 89.747 | ||||||||||
Jenson Button | 91.181 | 90.212 | 89.973 | 90.493 | 92.273 | 89.425 | 89.155 | 90.211 | 89.473 | 90.38 | 94.206 | 90.339 | 90.971 | 93.837 | ||||
Fernando Alonso | 85.707 | 95.73 | 85.445 | 94.133 | 89.732 | 86.73 | ||||||||||||
Felipe Massa | 88.01 | 86.836 | 86.597 | 90.719 | 88.557 | 86.361 | ||||||||||||
Michael Schumacher | 90.706 | 90.789 | 91.859 | 90.216 | 90.347 | 90.535 | 91.044 | 92.647 | 94.059 | 93.379 | ||||||||
Nico Rosberg | 95.001 | 90.375 | 90.344 | 90.62 | 90.209 | 96.725 | ||||||||||||
Nick Heidfeld | 96.474 | 90.674 | 90.365 | 96.698 | 89.913 | 90.325 | 90.378 | 90.671 | 93.014 | 92.427 | 91.649 | 92.321 | ||||||
Vitaly Petrov | 92.089 | 92 | 91.873 | 92.848 | 91.088 | 91.869 | 91.954 | 95.118 | 91.944 | 91.576 | 92.089 | 92.113 | 92.007 | 92.607 | 91.848 | 92.133 | 92.381 | 92.821 |
Rubens Barrichello | 91.105 | 90.633 | 93.443 | 90.781 | 91.106 | 92.113 | 91.62 | 91.881 | 92.104 | 92.274 | 92.379 | |||||||
Pastor Maldonado | 93.371 | 92.619 | 92.581 | 92.668 | 92.631 | 92.594 | 92.195 | 92.632 | 92.845 | 92.91 | 92.881 | 92.925 | 92.746 | 92.348 | 92.764 | 92.543 | 93.977 | |
Adrian Sutil | 100.593 | 88.605 | 87.123 | 94.479 | 88.508 | |||||||||||||
Paul di Resta | 91.341 | 92.306 | 92.22 | 91.941 | 91.378 | 91.654 | 92.114 | 92.185 | ||||||||||
Kamui Kobayashi | 90.17 | 90.92 | 90.4 | 92.105 | 91.082 | 90.794 | 91.854 | 91.308 | 91.037 | 91.446 | ||||||||
Sergio Perez | 92.208 | 91.732 | 91.624 | 92.817 | 94.543 | 92.55 | 92.068 | 92.339 | 91.583 | |||||||||
Sebastien Buemi | 90.814 | 91.255 | 91.698 | 90.939 | 91.46 | 91.154 | 91.013 | 91.628 | ||||||||||
Jaime Alguersuari | 93.279 | 92.307 | 92.457 | 92.218 | 92.56 | 92.283 | 92.595 | 92.302 | 92.499 | 92.219 | 94.996 | 93.139 | 94.675 | 93.986 | 93.53 | |||
Heikki Kovalainen | 91.433 | 92.42 | 90.93 | 93.073 | 92.024 | 91.768 | 91.564 | 91.058 | 90.899 | 91.111 | ||||||||
Jarno Trulli | 87.311 | 94.589 | 87.189 | 89.285 | 89.901 | 88.144 | 89.42 | 89.997 | ||||||||||
Narain Karthikeyan | 95.839 | 95.08 | 94.485 | 95.224 | ||||||||||||||
Vitantonio Liuzzi | 93.303 | 93.047 | 92.976 | 92.907 | 93.299 | 94.506 | 94.7 | 93.336 | 94.887 | 93.789 | 94.806 | 96.85 | ||||||
Timo Glock | 91.99 | 92.487 | 88.7 | 107.859 | 88.062 | |||||||||||||
Jerome dAmbrosio | 95.54 | 95.517 | 95.868 | 95.237 | 96.761 | 94.909 | 95.315 | 95.097 | 95.672 | 95.349 |
Ultimate lap times
- Unusually, Sebastian Vettel found himself behind his team mate, although he does have some time in hand
- Fernando Alonso was delayed by Nick Heidfeld on his fastest lap, and should be able to go at least two tenths of a second quicker
- The ultimate laps of both HRTs were outside 1.7% of Webber’s time by over a second. They will be hoping the fastest cars do not use soft tyres in Q1 or they may not qualify
Car | Driver | Car | Ultimate lap | Gap | Deficit to best | |
1 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’22.470 | 0.000 | |
2 | 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’22.509 | 0.039 | 0.000 |
3 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’22.695 | 0.225 | 0.131 |
4 | 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’23.188 | 0.718 | 0.000 |
5 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’23.356 | 0.886 | 0.212 |
6 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’23.586 | 1.116 | 0.000 |
7 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’23.662 | 1.192 | 0.319 |
8 | 16 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’24.231 | 1.761 | 0.059 |
9 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 1’24.243 | 1.773 | 0.123 |
10 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’24.278 | 1.808 | 0.000 |
11 | 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’24.417 | 1.947 | 0.066 |
12 | 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’24.729 | 2.259 | 0.057 |
13 | 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’25.007 | 2.537 | 0.450 |
14 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’25.042 | 2.572 | 0.261 |
15 | 18 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’25.296 | 2.826 | 0.000 |
16 | 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1’25.603 | 3.133 | 0.000 |
17 | 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’26.073 | 3.603 | 0.000 |
18 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1’26.417 | 3.947 | 0.000 |
19 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’26.811 | 4.341 | 0.312 |
20 | 21 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1’26.968 | 4.498 | 0.221 |
21 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’27.925 | 5.455 | 0.137 |
22 | 25 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’28.036 | 5.566 | 0.000 |
23 | 22 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1’29.253 | 6.783 | 0.216 |
24 | 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1’29.469 | 6.999 | 0.007 |
Complete practice times
- Both Virgins were well clear of the HRTs. Colin Kolles said: “The time sheet doesn’t look too good today but I’m positive because I know what we have done and I think tomorrow we will see the real performance of the car. We only did long runs and were not running on low levels of fuel.”
- Sauber looked promising in both sessions and on the strength of this should be in contention for places in Q3
- Despite their updated car Force India are languishing among the Lotuses. an Sutil believes there’s more performance to come, saying: “I ran with all our new aero parts this morning and in the afternoon, but to be honest we haven’t managed to find the sweet spot yet.”
Speed trap
- As was often the case last year Red Bull seem content to sacrifice straight-line speed for lap time
# | Driver | Car | Engine | Max speed | Gap | |
1 | 16 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber | Ferrari | 326.2 | |
2 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | Ferrari | 324.9 | 1.3 |
3 | 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | Cosworth | 322 | 4.2 |
4 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams | Cosworth | 321.9 | 4.3 |
5 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | Ferrari | 321.1 | 5.1 |
6 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | Mercedes | 320.4 | 5.8 |
7 | 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | Renault | 320 | 6.2 |
8 | 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India | Mercedes | 319.5 | 6.7 |
9 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | Renault | 319.3 | 6.9 |
10 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | Mercedes | 318.3 | 7.9 |
11 | 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber | Ferrari | 317.7 | 8.5 |
12 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 317.6 | 8.6 |
13 | 18 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 317.6 | 8.6 |
14 | 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 316.6 | 9.6 |
15 | 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | Mercedes | 315.4 | 10.8 |
16 | 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Mercedes | 315.4 | 10.8 |
17 | 25 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin | Cosworth | 313 | 13.2 |
18 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus | Renault | 312.8 | 13.4 |
19 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin | Cosworth | 312.7 | 13.5 |
20 | 21 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus | Renault | 312.2 | 14 |
21 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | Renault | 312 | 14.2 |
22 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | Renault | 311.6 | 14.6 |
23 | 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT | Cosworth | 308 | 18.2 |
24 | 22 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT | Cosworth | 308 | 18.2 |
2011 Spanish Grand Prix
Image © Sauber F1 Team
Icthyes (@icthyes)
20th May 2011, 16:44
I foresee two scenarios:
1) Drivers make an extra stop because having less time on a slow tyre outweighs the time penalty. Though this is probably unlikely given the length of the pitlane (they missed a trick when they built that new chicane, the entrance could have gone straight past it).
2) We see a lot more people start on the hard tyre to get it out of the way and take the fuel-induced higher degradation on the slowest tyre.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
20th May 2011, 16:51
either way, to my mind it won’t be solving the problem – that we need the drivers to have more than one viable strategy option. If everyone is doing the same thing then Pirelli have failed in one of their objectives – to bring back racing strategy.
It concerns me that, thus far, the reason that the races have been great is because the teams are not yet on top of tyre strategy. Once they are, they will all swap at the optimum time etc and we’ll see a return to the more typical processional race. That’s why we need more than one realistic strategy.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
20th May 2011, 16:57
and, additionally, its going to emphasise saving soft tyres in qualifying – which, in my opinion, is a bad thing
sid
21st May 2011, 5:48
A 2.2 second gap in the compounds will mean that mid runners can challenge the top teams in Q1 – so i feel that top teams will be forced to use the soft…atleast some of the teams.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
21st May 2011, 14:08
and thus, it came to be that qualifying was dictated by tyres. Boring.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
20th May 2011, 18:23
We seem to have ended up with tyres that are slower and less durable. I think “disaster” is the exactly the right word to use.
It may just be that these tyres are too hard for these conditions, which would explain it better than Pirelli being incompetent. I hope so.
Ragerod
20th May 2011, 20:55
Completely agree. A gap of two seconds between the tyres for just an additional 6 or 7 laps is too much.
There are still plenty of issues with these tyres that need to be worked.
babis1980 (@babis1980)
20th May 2011, 23:11
I checked my crystal ball and i saw the following…..
With this extra hard tyre we will see 3 different strategies. Many will go for the classic 3 stopper (twice the soft and the hard at the end), Kamui-Perez and Buemi will go for a 2 stopper (twice the hard and a blistering last stint with the fresh soft) and Webber will go for the 4 stopper-Webber (three sets of soft and a hard).
If there will be a safety car (I think that it is about time to see the SC this year!!!) the most exciting stategy will be a 2 stopper.
Pirelli is doing whay they were asked. Sundays race will be a classic. Quali will be Webber-Vettel (not particulary in this order), McLarens, Alonso, Merc, Massa and Saubers. Lotus will for sure have a car in Q2 or maybe both cars. Let’s see…shall we?
Ron in Michigan
21st May 2011, 5:11
Do you mean Lotus or Lotus Renault. I for won would be thrilled to Heiki make Q2.
Ron in Michigan
21st May 2011, 5:12
one
MattB
20th May 2011, 16:47
Surely the straight line speed deficit for Red Bull is going to be great for anyone who is able to follow them around the track… Even midfield people will be able to overtake! Paul di Resta is about 8 seconds faster down the straights + DRS advantage = quite a lot! Also, they will be less able to utilse the effect of DRS here.
Looking forward to it…
Toro Stevo (@toro-stevo)
20th May 2011, 18:08
8 seconds! Red Bull will be lapped at that pace…
MarcusAurelius (@marcusaurelius)
20th May 2011, 16:52
I wouldn’t be surprised if a driver makes it to Q3 on hard tires and then sticking to the hard tire to save the precious soft tires…
Sound_Of_Madness
20th May 2011, 17:05
I would be surprised if a driver makes it to Q3 on hard tires.
BBQ2
20th May 2011, 17:07
Hard to come by Marcus, as no driver ever made it to Q3 without using soft tyres. If any of the front runners do not use soft in Q1, then Lotus will surely be in Q2. That is my prediction 8)
BBT
20th May 2011, 17:49
I don’t think anyone can risk not going soft tyre in every session. The new hards are just too slow.
RealF1
20th May 2011, 17:00
For me. The Pirelli tires sucks.. They caused all kind of setbacks to the cars. Hard tires really gonna make them struggle esp due tot he weather there.. Hope we see a great race and less Pit stops. Catch me on twitter for more F1 discussion @baffah_g
Adrian J
20th May 2011, 17:11
Pirelli made what they were asked to make.
They could have made a tyre that behaved the same as the Bridgestones but were asked not to do that but to do something else, which is what they’ve done.
If these new hard tyres aren’t a success then I can see them dropping them after this race and going back to the previous compound while they try and come up with something in between the 2.
Fixy (@)
20th May 2011, 18:43
It is disappointing this new tyre is a failure, but the soft compound has been exactly what everyone wanted, fast and degradable.
BBT
20th May 2011, 17:53
I agree, the tyre(s) are too poor.
Yes they needed to last less durable than the Bridgestones but this is taking the…….
and now a hard tyre that is sooo slow and inconsistent, a recipe for F1 lottery, we could record the Saturday night draw instead and watch that.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th May 2011, 18:14
So… you want fewer pit stops but you don’t like tyres that last longer?
davey (@djdaveyp87)
20th May 2011, 19:11
ROFL
PJ Tierney
20th May 2011, 20:18
All you have to do is drive on the scrubs and extend your laptimes by a minute! :D
bob80
20th May 2011, 17:06
Maybe some of the slower teams will make pitstop on lap No 1.
MVEilenstein (@mveilenstein)
20th May 2011, 17:13
montreal95
20th May 2011, 19:49
Exactly. Drivers will always find something to moan about
Fixy (@)
20th May 2011, 20:33
Lol
SparkyJ23 (@sparkyj23)
20th May 2011, 21:23
COTD right there
MVEilenstein (@mveilenstein)
21st May 2011, 4:13
If they were given unlimited allotment, any compound made to order, they would complain that the tires were unlimited for everyone else, too.
wigster (@wigster)
20th May 2011, 17:25
If the hard tyres are really 1.5 – 2 seconds a lap slower it might mean everyone from the top teams will have to use softs in q1, not just ferrari. Theres no way anyone will be able to get through q2 on hards, not even vettel.
There my also be a risk that whoever wins the race will simply be the driver from the top 4 teams that spends the least amount of laps on superhard (super slow) tyres in the race.
sid
21st May 2011, 5:51
Agreed!
Rahim.RG (@rahim-rg)
20th May 2011, 17:33
Drivers are gonna care about their race…not about the show for the Fans…Lets just enjoy the complaints and the Pirelli Tyres on Sunday…
Becken
20th May 2011, 17:46
Forget about the tyres. The history is that Ferrari rear wing is under FIA scrutiny.
Hope they fix it because FIA was very keen to punish Sauber with what seems to be the same problem:
“Slot-gap separators must be 200mm apart. Rule 3.10.3”
BBT
20th May 2011, 17:55
Does it matter?, they will just revert to what they had in the first rounds, no drama.
Now if it had been discovered after Qualifying that is a different matter.
PJ Tierney
20th May 2011, 20:19
Fairly hard not to spot it.
SparkyJ23 (@sparkyj23)
20th May 2011, 21:25
Non story – teams can run stuff that isn’t race legal in Practice just not in Qualifying or the race.
Patrickl
21st May 2011, 1:04
Sauber were caught out on a a radius problem in their rear wing.
3.10.1:
“
BBT
20th May 2011, 17:57
PS I think Hamilton’s comment is to detract from his true pace.
Those upgrades are looking good but I think RBR as sandbagging a bit
Burnout (@burnout)
20th May 2011, 18:01
How long can teams keep the soft tyres working? That’ll probably be the biggest factor on race day. If cars can’t go more than 75% of race distance on 3 sets of soft tyres it will be interesting to see when and how teams use the “superhard” tyres.
rfs
20th May 2011, 18:15
I think teams will do 3 stints(or 4 if tyre degradation is as high as at Turkey) on the softs, then use the hards for the final stint.
Burnout (@burnout)
20th May 2011, 18:45
Can they do 4 stints on soft tyres? Each driver is allotted only 3 sets of softs and 3 sets of hard tyres.
xabregas
20th May 2011, 18:44
Weren´t the drivers asked in the last 2 races after some friday practice with this new hard tyre what their thinking was about his behavier??
So why are they complaining now?? Isn´t the same for everybody??
This tyre will mess the strategy not only in the race but also in qualifying which will be good.
Patrickl
21st May 2011, 1:06
Why not just hold a raffle instead of qualifying then? That sure will “mess strategy”.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
20th May 2011, 19:02
ISn’t it enough with the silly DRS to spoil true races? I mean, this kind of lucky raffle about tyre strategy is going nowhere. If it was making a point, not only RB but other teams would be winning races. It’s messing the middle-teams battle. I personally don’t like the way Piralli is doing its job (well, they ususally say they are just asked to do so). Tyre degradation is one of this day going to make a big-shame headline if there comes an accident for some tyres blowing unexpectedly, or for a pilot who tries to stay longer in soft tyres spinning on marbles and crashing. Just the same as worrying as Barrichello warning about DRS in Monaco. Scary. I hope to be wrong about this for the rest of the year. We really miss Senna, FIA shouldn’t risk pilots more than what they already do. F1 safety has improved a lot, I know, but don’t push the limits.
davey (@djdaveyp87)
20th May 2011, 19:16
Whinge, whinge, whinge. These are the rules and they’ve made the races very entertaining. A harder tyre should be slower than a softer one, that has almost always been the case. By using a hard tyre you are sacrificing some grip for more durability. If they were the same pace everybody would just use the hards and racing would be boring and processional again. You can’t have it all! Sacrifices have ot be made to get what you want!
Without the tyre management required this year Red Bull would have easily won every race and then you’d all be whinging that F1 is boring. At least we get some action and strategy cock-ups now as we saw in china which allowed Lewis to win.
Pirelli, in my merely humble opinion, are doing a fantastic job!
Shiro
20th May 2011, 20:00
You’re completely missing the point. The point of the new hard tyre was to improve durability, but it’s even slower than the older-spec version so you lose even more time anyway. The hard tyre is supposed to act as the prime, instead it’s more of a compromised option tyre than the option tyres themselves. That is not what Pirelli intended and the drivers are acknowledging that.
Shiro
20th May 2011, 20:03
P.S.
The drivers love the softer (what is SUPPOSED to be the LEAST favoured comound) option tyre. I don’t understand how you can misinterpret the criticism of the new hard tyre as an attack on Pirelli.
BBT
20th May 2011, 20:41
When will people wake up, there is NO tyre management. For each car they last X laps. It is nothing to do with driver skill or looking after them. Its luck and luck in the outcome of the design of the car. Tyre management mean the different between pitting one or two laps earlier which is totally discounted by ‘luck’ in what traffic you come out in or all sorts of other factors. Tyre management, piff!
BBT
20th May 2011, 20:48
By the way,
I’m not saying the tyre are totally rubbish. They just need to be consistent between sets and the softs need to be faster than the hards with the slower hards and lasting longer than they do. It’s no good if they last the same +/- 2 – 4 laps.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th May 2011, 21:01
That’s clearly not the case – some drivers are consistently able to do fewer stops than their team mates. such as Vettel, Button and Buemi.
BBT
20th May 2011, 21:09
I’m not so sure, Vettel has clean air (the same as a car naturally better on its tyres) Button is better on his tyres if you look at the number of stops, but it doesn’t help him, he’s ran less stops but shouldn’t of, its been a mistake as he himself and Whitmarsh admitted, that’s why I say tyre management is a myth. Buemi same. No evidence that tyre management is helping any of those drivers.
However after reading and looking at some data the new hard doesn’t look as bad as the drivers are saying and might be a step in the right direction from the previous hard tyre. We’ll see.
BBT
20th May 2011, 21:12
Hard: It is slower but is now lasting much longer so I take back the 2 – 4 laps difference comment (that was the old hard tyre).
SparkyJ23 (@sparkyj23)
20th May 2011, 21:27
Kobyashi is the only driver who seems to make tyre management work – He’s stopping less and placing better for it.
Shiro
20th May 2011, 22:39
Disagree with Button. Malaysia was more down to tyre strategy in qualifying, and Turkey Hamilton was able to do a three-stop, just that he might as well have pitted anyway as a precaution like Vettel did.
BBT
21st May 2011, 8:35
Thinking about it more, I still stand by the managing tyre myth.
The driver examples Keith gives provides more evidence, it does not disprove it.
Both Button and Vettel have lost places due to less pit-stops, for Vettel it cost him a win. Doing less pit-stops was not tyre management but a strategic mistake
yohei (@yohei)
20th May 2011, 19:36
Pirelli sucks. I miss the tyre war among Bridgestone and Goodyear.
Patrickl
21st May 2011, 1:07
hear hear. At least then the tyres and pitstops actually had some meaning. Now they are just nursing the cars from stop to stop. Driving by cars that are on a another strategy with ridiculous ease.
It’s depressing to see how even battle hardened F1 fanatics actually seem to like this nonsense.
BBT
21st May 2011, 8:45
Agree, the overtaking means nothing when there is little or no skill.
I’d much rather have last session.
Its a bit like changing the rules in football so every game you get more goals i.e scores like 21 – 12, doesn’t make the game any better a 2 – 1 game (or even a 1 -0) would be just as good without the meaningless goals.
For me overtaking was only a small part of the overall of the viewing enjoyment, throwing the cars into the cars and lock ups in the braking zones, the pure speed, the racing was just as exciting.
BBT
21st May 2011, 8:46
whoops *season*
DaveW
20th May 2011, 19:51
Data suggest that only McLaren may be able to run with
RBR for the distance. Mercedes don’t have the long run pace and look even set to fall behind Renault in the race. I don’t know what Ferrari was up to and they may be up to less if the stewards clip those funny rear wings. Hamilton could make Q3 interesting, but I suspect that after RBR puts their EBD on Qualifying Setting in Q2 with the softs, McLaren rest will do one run in Q3 and then sit in the garage, tail-between legs, saving their tires. Ferrari look to be way behind on one lap pace again, so they likely will just do a lap and maybe even have Massa take a pass on Q3 again.
mike77 (@mike77)
20th May 2011, 20:23
slightly off topic, but there apparently will be TWO DRS ZONES in Valencia and Canada, and it will be used in monaco on the pit straight
SparkyJ23 (@sparkyj23)
20th May 2011, 21:28
2 DRS Zones from Canada until the end of the season no less (where the layout allows)
VXR
20th May 2011, 21:01
The drivers would probably like to go ten seconds per lap faster, because even they must get slightly bored of driving F1 cars that don’t try to spit them off the track at every corner.
Pirelli have made tyres that have made the cars race again (forget DRS and KERS).
This seasons Red Bull on last seasons Bridgestones would have made the championship practically a foregone conclusion by now.
Red Bull/Bridgestone tyre strategy. *yawn*
1. Soft tyre (although it would probably last for the entire race)until around lap 20. Pit for hard tyre. Wait for third place car to arrive about a minute after you’ve crossed the finishing line. Job done. Repeat at next race.
CNSZU
20th May 2011, 21:14
Now we have a new tire which throws everybody off balance, creating even more exciting races. All hail Pirelli!
BBT
20th May 2011, 21:15
Sorry off topic. When is the deadline for the predictions?
BBT
20th May 2011, 21:37
It OK the post is up now
until the start of qualifying on Saturday
thought so… cheers.
Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks)
21st May 2011, 0:29
I wonder if anyone will struggle to meet the 107% rule if the Mclaren & Red Bull run softs in Q1? Any data Keith?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
21st May 2011, 12:14
Oh it wouldn’t be Formula 1 if drivers weren’t complaining about something new!