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[Timbuktu]

Spain really shouldn't get two races. Their tracks suck, as does their fans.

 

[Dead Man]

Well, it's been fun once again, even with a pretty average race. Bedtime here, see you at Monaco.

 

[Igo]

lol @ people saying hamilton's puncture was in no way his fault :lol

McLaren has said they were monitoring his tyres and they were fine. MW thinks there may have been a rim failure from debris.

 

[S. L.]

i think my racemangager team did reasonably well.
should be getting over 900 points.

 

[Stop It]

lol @ people saying hamilton's puncture was in no way his fault :lol

Yes, a sudden tyre deflation without any symptoms of tyre mismanagement (random slow sectors, losing pace etc) is such an indication of bad driving!

Get your hate away from your head for a second and realise that these things happen. if it wasn't Hamiltons tyres blowing up nobody would be calling driving failure.

Well, it's been fun once again, even with a pretty average race. Bedtime here, see you at Monaco.

Indeed, see you at the Monaco GP coverage!

 

[Lince]

Spain really shouldn't get two races. Their tracks suck, as does their fans.

bitter much?

 

[AndyD]

Hamilfkking ton!!!!

This new saying needs a gif or an image along with it for future messups.

Weird race. Rosberg and Massa faltering, but a Michael resurgence. Weird reliability issues at the front.

 

[Salacious Crumb]

Just teasing you guys, everyone knows he's hard on tires, it's an obvious joke. Hamilton is a great driver, but I do love it when he falls off the track just to watch the crazies squirm.

 

[Lince]

fast laps

01 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.357
02 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:24.828
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:24.846
04 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.166
05 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:25.176
06 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:25.455
07 Robert Kubica Renault 1:25.466
08 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:25.470
09 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:25.497
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:25.529
11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:25.655
12 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:25.728
13 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:25.845
14 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:25.924
15 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.083
16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:26.724
17 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:26.863
18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:29.564
19 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:29.776
20 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:29.904
21 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:30.411
22 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:32.041

interesting how Hamilton put that superb lap together late in the race... and then what do you know the next lap his tire blew, coincidence? he wasn't going to overtake Webbo and Vettel / Alonso were already cruising, he's too emotional. I love it anyway, he's brought a lot to the sport, bold overtaking, arrogance, on/off-track hilarity and of course, talent.

as for the Spanish fans cheering when Hamilton kissed the barriers, I'm pretty certain they were just cheering Alonso's move up one more spot, it's only human nature.

 

[dalin80]

Actually hamiltons fastest lap was about 5 or 6 before his puncture.

 

[navanman]

Correct, Hamiltons fastest lap was around 8 laps from the end.

Just unlucky that he had a puncture, lots of debris on the track today from small little crashes between the cars today.

 

[tirant]

Spain really shouldn't get two races. Their tracks suck, as does their fans.

 

[DrM]

Oh yeah baby, some drivers could get REALLY screwed in Monaco

Monaco qualifying to remain unchanged

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix will take place as usual after teams failed to agree on a split system.

The Formula One Teams' Association was discussing the possibility of splitting the drivers in two groups of 12 in qualifying for the Monaco event in order to avoid the traffic problems which are likely to hinder drivers next weekend with 24 cars on the streets of the principality.

However, the move was not accepted by some of the teams and qualifying will remain unchanged.

Lotus boss Tony Fernandes said his was one of the teams rejecting the idea.

"There was talk today at FOTA of having a split qualifying, going into a hat with 12 in one and 12 in another," Fernandes told Reuters in the Spanish Grand Prix.

"I said no. We want the race to be exciting, we want to be unpredictable so let qualifying be the same as well.

"I have been in Formula One for seven months now and these guys are very good drivers and they are paid to drive well."

Source

 

[Igo]

Looks like a rim failure.

edit: Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
"We are working closely with McLaren to understand what happened to Lewis Hamilton, but initial impressions are that this was not caused by a tyre issue."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83498

 

[Adam Scott Aukerman]

Of course all the cars will be getting faster, but until he caught Hulkenberg, he was on the same pace as the RBRs and was easily over a second faster than Schumacher.

Well going by the fastest laps for this race, it seems Mercedes are no closer than they have been in previous races (with the exception of Bahrain). Certainly nothing to warrant an 'epic' label.

 

[S. L.]

up to place 5
got really lucky with my Kobayashi pick this race
but my bets are pretty much all wrong :|

 

[Deadman]

Yay, up two places into 4th

 

[AndyD]

up to place 5
got really lucky with my Kobayashi pick this race
but my bets are pretty much all wrong :|

I dropped a few but still top 50% since I didnt do the midweek question and had to go for a risky avenue.

But I got a good number of bets right so I have quite a bit of money for next week. Problem is I will be out of the country starting Wednesday for 10 days... so I will have to blind bet without seeing practices. Unless I can hop on the web somewhere in France.

Anyone know what time and on what channel i may be able to catch F1 next weekend in France?

 

[Pterion]

Looks like a rim failure.

Bu bu but he's hard on his tyres !!1one!1

 

[Leunam]

FUCK

 

[DrM]

RBR conspiracy worked

Teams agree to ban F-Ducts for 2011

Formula 1 teams have voted in favour of a ban on F-Ducts for next season, after teams rejected a plea by McLaren not to outlaw the blown wing concept.

McLaren stole a march on the opposition at the start of this season by introducing the F-Duct onto its car - which provides a straight-line speed advantage through drivers diverting air to help stall the rear wing.

Rivals teams have worked hard to try and copy the system, but have found difficulties incorporating it because chassis have to be homologated for this season.

Although Sauber, Ferrari, Williams and Mercedes GP have managed to run blown rear wings already, a majority of teams were concerned that designs could get out of control for next season – both on cost and safety grounds.

During the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) meeting in Barcelona on Sunday morning the matter was brought up, and the majority of teams voted in favour of it being outlawed for 2011, even though McLaren tried to convince teams not to ban it.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner, whose team is still looking into the concept, thought that safety aspects were a big concern.

"It is a clever piece of engineering and hats off to the guys who invented it, but some of the solutions this weekend look a bit marginal when you see drivers driving with finger tips and no hands," he explained. "So I think there is a safety issue and a cost issue to take into account."

Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry told AUTOSPORT that he supported the ban on F-Ducts because the designs brought little to the sport.

"I personally think that it is sensible to nip in the bud technologies that, on the face of it, don't really have a relevance for use outside of F1," he said.

"By the end of the year I know we, and I am sure most of the other teams, will have an F-Duct on their car and that neutralises the advantage of having it.

"The engineers have already come up with ideas for next year that are zany in the extreme, and it is difficult to see how they would be used elsewhere. Plus they would be expensive."

He added: "I know it is disappointing for those who invent these ideas, but I think what people have to get used to is, like the double diffuser idea, they may be fairly short lived.

"You get your pay back for the year when you have got it and other people haven't - and if it isn't a useful technology then it comes off.

"What we should be encouraging is stuff that we can be using elsewhere, and I am personally a big proponent of KERS because of that."

FOTA agreed earlier this season to outlaw double diffusers as well for next season because of fears that the designs were getting out of control, and they did little to improve the racing.

Source

 

[navanman]

Loads of balls banning the F-duct IMO.

Yeah for innovation

 

[avaya]

Barcelona should be banned.

I would rather have scraped my eyes out with a tooth pick than watch that shitfest. Thank fuck I never bothered.

I would recommend nuking Valencia too.

Take it back to Jerez.

 

[AcridMeat]

up to place 5
got really lucky with my Kobayashi pick this race
but my bets are pretty much all wrong :|

Envious you could afford RBR and Total. I'm slowly but surely making my way up, now 38th. Forgetting the bonus question and completely screwed bets is going to make this even harder. Still, if I can make it to the top 20 I will be pleased after missing the first race.

Ridiculous about F-ducts. They agree to ban those but are considering bringing KERS back? Really??

 

[Lince]

Ridiculous about F-ducts.

well Ferrari F-duct is dangerous to handle and should be banned right away IMO

watch Alonso driving around Barcelona track with barely one hand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la0N3jlsJc8

actually at 0:26 and 0:55 you can see how he lets both hands off the wheel

 

[S. L.]

Envious you could afford RBR and Total. I'm slowly but surely making my way up, now 38th. Forgetting the bonus question and completely screwed bets is going to make this even harder. Still, if I can make it to the top 20 I will be pleased after missing the first race.

Ridiculous about F-ducts. They agree to ban those but are considering bringing KERS back? Really??

well, it was quite a gamble with Kobayashi as my main driver but it paid off.
A normal FI/Ren setup with Sutil and a good/lucky secondary driver pick should probably net around the same amount of points.

As for the F-duct, it doesn't really add anything to the racing (unlike KERS for example) so it won't be missed by me. *shrug*

 

[Diablohead]

Unlucky Lewis, right at the end too

 

[trineo_feo]

Spain really shouldn't get two races. Their tracks suck, as does their fans.

Thats stupid.

 

[AcridMeat]

well Ferrari F-duct is dangerous to handle and should be banned right away IMO

watch Alonso driving around Barcelona track with barely one hand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la0N3jlsJc8

actually at 0:26 and 0:55 you can see how he lets both hands off the wheel

I completely agree Ferrari's system is dangerous. But McLaren's use of it is extremely clever.

Ah well, I guess it's something to expect. I just disagree that they should go back to KERS, at least in the way it was implemented last year.

 

[Adam Scott Aukerman]

Ridiculous about F-ducts. They agree to ban those but are considering bringing KERS back? Really??

F-Ducts aren't relevant to road cars, KERS is.

 

[TylerD]

For shame on you guys that think Monaco is going to be boring. There could be some massive incidents and grid mix ups due to the lack of pace the back markers have.

Can't wait for some delicious on board footage and watching the cars juking through Piscine.

 

[mclem]

Gaf appears to be down into second in the subleague competition... by one point.

THIS MEANS WAR.

Edit: Oh, only for Spain, we're still doin' just fine overall. THIS MEANS, uh..., SOMETHING.

 

[DrM]

I just disagree that they should go back to KERS, at least in the way it was implemented last year.

Well, if they will regulate the rules - same unit for every team and all teams will get KERS, this could be a good thing

How many top drivers will be screwed in Monaco quolies, due to back markers. And there will be safety car on track atleast 2 or 3 times (Both HRTs will probably end up all over the track...)

 

[Chris R]

What a horrible race that was. Doesn't help that I find the track some what boring to begin with, but then there is the choo choo train behind Michael for almost the entire race :lol What a joke this season is becoming.

 

[NHale]

Barcelona should be banned.

I would rather have scraped my eyes out with a tooth pick than watch that shitfest. Thank fuck I never bothered.

I would recommend nuking Valencia too.

Take it back to Jerez.

Jerez is also a boring track with no chance to overtaking with the current F1 cars.

The problem with F1 is that overtaking is really hard, look at yesterday Nico Rosberg was 2-3 seconds faster than Hulkenberg and it took more than 5 laps to overtake him.

And I laugh everytime FIA tries to change something to improve overtaking, because it usually backfires completely. The sport needs a complete change and they need to start with unfreezing engine development, going with 2 or more tyre suppliers, ban all "extra" aero devices like shark fins, deflectors, double diffusers (banned for 2011) and ban Tilke from developing another F1 track.

 

[Dead Man]

Gaf appears to be down into second in the subleague competition... by one point.

THIS MEANS WAR.

Edit: Oh, only for Spain, we're still doin' just fine overall. THIS MEANS, uh..., SOMETHING.

Yeah, we are actually doing pretty good, in spite of my best efforts!

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Boring race, but I let out a cheer when Hamilton went off on the last lap. :lol

Made it worth watching for me.

 

[trineo_feo]

Why do you all hate Tilke so much?

 

[Dead Man]

Why do you all hate Tilke so much?

His tracks are boring, gimmicky, and replacing great, historic venues that provided awesome spectacles.

 

[Lucius86]

No movement, still 28th. How did we move down a spot in the sub-league?!?! :-(

Race was very average.

 

[S. L.]

No movement, still 28th. How did we move down a spot in the sub-league?!?! :-(

Race was very average.

we are still first place in the subleague-league, just for last race we were only second best

 

[DieselRainbow]

 

[Lucius86]

we are still first place in the subleague-league, just for last race we were only second best

Aha, well in that case go NeoGAF!!

 

[Pimpwerx]

His tracks are boring, gimmicky, and replacing great, historic venues that provided awesome spectacles.

Pretty much. He replaced legends with shit. Nuff said. PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

up to place 5
got really lucky with my Kobayashi pick this race
but my bets are pretty much all wrong :|

Not lucky, gamey. Good gamble on RBR there. Without Vettel's problem, you'd have scored more. I did fine with my picks, but I need to work on betting. JTF1 isn't gonna go down easily. Hell, anyone in the Top10 knows what they're doing, so it should be more fun the further we get into it. I hope we're picking championship contenders by the end of the season. PEACE.

 

[S. L.]

Aha, well in that case go NeoGAF!!

thou it is a bit of a mystery to me how the subleague points are calculated.
my guess is that the average of the top six teams for each race is summed up

 

[Funky Functionality]

Schumacher made a fool of Button for most of the race. That was cringe-inducing and did no favors for the track; they've gotta get this one off the calendar.

Also, most intense part of the race for me was keeping an eye on Vettel in the last few laps knowing his brakes could fail at any moment. And Hamilton! Dear. Definitely looks like rim failure. Very disappointing.

I'm pretty damned excited for Q1 at Monaco... that's going to be filled with accusations of blocking and demands for penalties.

 

[NHale]

I'm pretty damned excited for Q1 at Monaco... that's going to be filled with accusations of blocking and demands for penalties.

Now imagine what would happen if Schumacher "parks" his car at the end of Q1 like he did in 2006. :lol

I just hope it rains because without rain Monaco is always a boring race, but now without refueling it's going to be even worse. Thank God, Max Mosley had a spare time between all his "Nazi parties" to change the rules in F1. He's the best, just look at how the new teams are doing.

 

[DrM]

RBR could easily dominate in Monaco.

Last Ferrari victory in Monaco - 2001 by The Old one.

Mclaren preview for Monaco:

McLaren preview the Monaco GP

Jenson Button: I won at Monaco last year - it was one of the highlights of my season and also of my entire racing career. It's a race that you grow up watching; you know the circuit, every corner, by heart before you've ever driven there, so it's an extremely special place. It's a race every young driver dreams of winning. Even though I've been racing there for many years, the sensation of speed you experience when you first drive a Formula 1 car out of the pits and up the hill is something that you can never fully anticipate. The acceleration is incredible and the walls are so, so close.

To get the best out of the weekend, you've really got to build your speed up gradually – there are no benefits from attacking from lap one and risking a mistake. The track rubbers in incredibly quickly over the weekend, and it's all about letting the car naturally find more speed through the corners as the conditions improve and your confidence increases. I love the place and I'm really looking forward to getting back there. I think the result is extremely tough to call this year because there are a lot of very competitive drivers in the field, so I'd like to think there's a good chance of a slightly unpredictable race this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton: I love the Monaco circuit – it's the greatest track in Formula 1. My victory there in 2008 is still probably my best win in Formula 1 and one of the greatest moments in my career. It was an incredible day. In 2008, it was wet and, looking at the week ahead, the weather also looks extremely unpredictable, with heavy rain forecast for much of the week. Even if it doesn't rain on the Sunday, the possibility of heavily disrupted practice and qualifying sessions means that we'll probably go into the race with a chance of one of the most exciting and unpredictable Monaco Grands Prix for many years.

That would be fantastic because, with just a single stop in the race for tyres, there's going to be less opportunity for strategy to play a role in deciding the outcome, unless it rains of course. That means qualifying will be more important than ever: while we're still working hard to improve our qualifying pace, I think that Monaco is a place where the input of the driver is more important than at any other track, so I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to do a good job. In addition, I'll also be wearing a specially painted helmet for the occasion. When you see it, you'll know why I'll be hoping for it to swing the odds in my favour.

Martin Whitmarsh, team principal: You don't need me to tell you that our record around Monte Carlo has been exemplary – McLaren has won the race 15 times, including a six-year lock-out between 1988 and 1993. It's a race where we love to compete and where we have produced some fantastic performances over the years.

For 2010, we are under no illusions that it will be a challenge to add to our tally: we have not typically been able to demonstrate our ultimate pace in qualifying and the MP4-25 is not a car that we feel is best suited to slower, tighter tracks with short, slow-speed corners. Having said that, I know full well that the team always seems to produce something special for the race and in Jenson and Lewis, we not only have two street circuit specialists, but also the last two Monaco Grand Prix winners, which is a very significant string to our bow.

I know that both Jenson and Lewis are looking to win in Monaco and both feel very confident about their chances. It would be a fantastic achievement for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes if we were able to score a third victory in Monaco in just the fourth year of our partnership.

 

[flsh]

Haha is Lewis going to propose? That would certainly be awesome.