2009 F1 Singapore GP discussion thread

Charlie-Bravo

Ok, so Romain crashes in first practice.

Red Bulls on the pace...but Webber crashes!

McLarens well of the pace

Renault lack sponsorship

Brawns sand-bagging or is the track too cold?

let the discussions begin...

Jax Teller

i like the whole night grand prix idea think its genius

Charlie-Bravo

Forgot to Mention:

Saturday Quali at 3pm (BST) 10pm over in Singapore

Sunday Race at 1pm (BST) 8pm over in Singapore

dotzy

i think that that track is a bit silly, i like the night-street-circuit thing but parts of the track are so bumpy! could you see the sparks flyin? like the bored(under the car) is gonna be worn down pretty quick! i think Brawn and RB will do will in quali

Slutmonkey57b

Another difficult one to predict. Like Monaco this place will reward error-free, precision driving, which could play into Button's hands. All down to qualifying, but I think it's a Brawn 1-2 again.

dotzy

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

but I think it's a Brawn 1-2 again.

i agree i think another brawn 1-2 is on the cards the car was going well and i think now with button and barachelo quite close they both want it more

Slutmonkey57b

Bad thrid practice for Button and he's lost the plot over the radio with the setup of the car. Needs to get himself under control again because Barrichello's had his number so far this weekend.

LEIN

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Another difficult one to predict. Like Monaco this place will reward error-free, precision driving, which could play into Button's hands. All down to qualifying, but I think it's a Brawn 1-2 again.

dotzy wrote: »

i agree i think another brawn 1-2 is on the cards the car was going well and i think now with button and barachelo quite close they both want it more

Doubt it after that qualifying session

One of the red bulls to win.

Charlie-Bravo

So now Barrichello will be penalised down to 10th on the grid for the gearbox change...when is he allowed to fix his car seeing as parc ferme conditions apply?

EvilMonkey

Barachello crash ends the session early, Hamilton on pole, Vettel second and Rosberg third.

astrofluff wrote: »

So now Barrichello will be penalised down to 10th on the grid for the gearbox change...when is he allowed to fix his car seeing as parc ferme conditions apply?

DC said they will have to wait until the morning, but im not sure.

Ghost Train

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Barachello crash ends the session early, Hamilton on pole, Vettel second and Rosberg third.


DC said they will have to wait until the morning, but im not sure.

Might be because its late at night there. But would have thought they'd get it back to fix straight away

Will go with hamilton for the win. Wonder will we get a safety car tomorrow

G-Money

What is happening to Button? If you remember back at Monaco, Nick Fry was glowing with praise for him and I reckon Button could have named his price back then. Now, you'd have to wonder though wouldn't you.

I was just reading a comment that Alonso made:

"[But] I'm not sure we can get much more out of the car tomorrow. You never know though. If we finish the race it will be a good result."

When I read the "you never know" part, I immediately got a smirk and thought of Renault fixing the race again

Ghost Train

grandmaster wrote: »

What is happening to Button? If you remember back at Monaco, Nick Fry was glowing with praise for him and I reckon Button could have named his price back then. Now, you'd have to wonder though wouldn't you.

I was just reading a comment that Alonso made:

"[But] I'm not sure we can get much more out of the car tomorrow. You never know though. If we finish the race it will be a good result."

When I read the "you never know" part, I immediately got a smirk and thought of Renault fixing the race again

Thought it was interesting that alonso say he still takes last years win as a valid win. When asked about crashgate he used the words "collaberate" with his team and the fia instead of "cooperate" thought it was a bit funny

f1dan

Here's a wild Singapore theory.

Brawn want a Mercedes works deal with Rosberg behind the wheel next season. Barrichello, accepting the fact that he has a 5 place penalty, crashes on purpose to give Hamilton and Rosberg good qualy positions in return for Kovalainen's seat next season. Too far fetched I know.

LEIN

f1dan wrote: »

Here's a wild Singapore theory.

Brawn want a Mercedes works deal with Rosberg behind the wheel next season. Barrichello, accepting the fact that he has a 5 place penalty, crashes on purpose to give Hamilton and Rosberg good qualy positions in return for Kovalainen's seat next season. Too far fetched I know.

Lol. Wonder how many of these theories will have popped up before the weekend is up!

thebman

I think its safe to say if you were going to rig any race this year, it would not be Singapore lol.

CT away, nothing up this weekend as the teams will be staying squeaky clean as if they were caught at anything, FIA would go nuts.

EvilMonkey

Singapore: Post-qualifying car weights

Lewis Hamilton: 660.5 kg
Sebastian Vettel: 651 kg
Nico Rosberg: 657.5 kg
Mark Webber: 654.5 kg
Rubens Barrichello: 655.5 kg
Fernando Alonso: 658 kg
Timo Glock: 660.5 kg
Nick Heidfeld: 650 kg
Robert Kubica: 664 kg
Heikki Kovalainen: 664.5 kg
Kazuki Nakajima: 680.7 kg
Jenson Button: 683 kg
Kimi Räikkönen: 680.5 kg
Sébastien Buemi: 678 kg
Jarno Trulli: 690.9 kg
Adrian Sutil: 693 kg
Jaime Alguersuari: 683.5 kg
Giancarlo Fisichella: 678.5 kg
Romain Grosjean: 683 kg
Vitantonio Liuzzi: 656 kg

http://www.manipef1.com/news/articles/10063/

Looks like Hamilton is in a good position for the win. The red flag defiantly hurt Vettel.

LEIN

Didn't think Hamilton was going to be that heavy!

Think i will change my prediction because no one will pass him at the start with his kerrs. But it is a street circuit so anything can happen.

thebman

I was wondering why Vettel didn't look happy in the press conference afterwards.

Barrichello is lighter than Button too. If we have a safety car, it could mess this grid up altogether.

The other thing is the forecast is for thunderstorms in Singapore tomorrow for 2 hours (probably before race time).

amacachi

f1dan wrote: »

Here's a wild Singapore theory.

Brawn want a Mercedes works deal with Rosberg behind the wheel next season. Barrichello, accepting the fact that he has a 5 place penalty, crashes on purpose to give Hamilton and Rosberg good qualy positions in return for Kovalainen's seat next season. Too far fetched I know.

Except Rosberg was about to get pole or second, so it cost him places. So not a great theory.


What the hell are Brawn playing at? Barring a safety car Rubens is ****ed tomorrow. Should've brimmed it with fuel.

Ghost Train

Looks like a lot of early pitstops... the alonso strategy from last year

Charlie-Bravo

astrofluff wrote: »

So now Barrichello will be penalised down to 10th on the grid for the gearbox change...when is he allowed to fix his car seeing as parc ferme conditions apply?

To answer my own question:

Article 34

34) POST QUALIFYING PARC FERME
34.1 Each car will be deemed to be in parc ferme from the time at which it leaves the pit lane for the first time during qualifying practice until the start of the race...Between these times...the following work may be carried out:..- repair of genuine accident damage...

So the Brawn guys have plenty of time to fix the car...but not add anything that ultimately changes the overall aspect of the car!

f1dan

amacachi wrote: »

Except Rosberg was about to get pole or second, so it cost him places. So not a great theory.


What the hell are Brawn playing at? Barring a safety car Rubens is ****ed tomorrow. Should've brimmed it with fuel.

Just a joke...

Oblomov

The rumours is that Santander will pay for Kimi to go to McLaren .. then Alonso to Ferrari.. but it appears things have changed in the last ' couple of days'

Button arguing about money.. Alonso saying it's all agreed...... Could Alonso be going to Brawn.

Barrichello to stay.. Kimi to stay and Rosberg to Mclaren...... or as Mercedes want a German driver... Heidfeld

Slutmonkey57b

Nope. If Brawn were offering Button a deal earlier this year, he should have taken it. His choking of form and unsettledness has really damaged his chances of retaining his drive.

Kimi to McLaren, Rosberg to Brawn, Button & Barrichello both out? Entirely possible, the Brawn drivers were given the equipment but neither of them showed the right character over the whole season.

As to the race, Hamilton and Rosberg both look like good bets. EJ on Barrichello: "That crash was good for him as he wasn't going to qualify better than 5th and he would have been bumped even further down the list if those guys had finished their last laps."

Conspiracy alert #2!

Oblomov

Conspiracy alert #2!

Did Barrichello crash on purpose? ... very brave to 'do a Piquet' on the same circuit ..

With the new teams listed to arrive next seasons, more seats than super-licence holders at the moment.

Kubica & Heidfeld to stay? Toyota? Williams, with a change of engine..poss.. will they keep Nakajima? Hulkenberg is listed as signing... still leaves one seat, Rosberg...if he moves.. the latest Williams and his present grid position.. could be impetus for him to stay.

Kimi & Alonso, but what are McLaren reactions to Mercedes taking an interest in Brawn..??

Euro F3 saw Mercedes engine dominate and they protested when VW came along with an engine.... for the Red Bull team....

amacachi

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Nope. If Brawn were offering Button a deal earlier this year, he should have taken it. His choking of form and unsettledness has really damaged his chances of retaining his drive.

Kimi to McLaren, Rosberg to Brawn, Button & Barrichello both out? Entirely possible, the Brawn drivers were given the equipment but neither of them showed the right character over the whole season.

Ah come on, Button has had less mess-ups this year than the winners of the the last coupla champtionships. He just needs to do enough, no point in trying to break the car to finish ahead of Rubens when he doesn't need to.


Can't see past Hamilton for this race barring a safety car or something similar.

amacachi

I'm gonna say no safety car this race. Expecting it to be a non-event of a race. Rain would be good though.


Still can't understand the fuel on Barrichello's car. Watch him be overly aggressive at the start.

aidan_dunne

amacachi wrote: »

I'm gonna say no safety car this race.

Hope you didn't put any money down the bookies on that prediction!

Alguersuari almost doing a 'Massa' from 12 months ago there! :eek:

amacachi

aidan_dunne wrote: »

Hope you didn't put any money down the bookies on that prediction!

Alguersuari almost doing a 'Massa' from 12 months ago there! :eek:

Nah I was too late to.

Hamilton got nice and lucky with the safety car there.

amacachi

Wonder if any of ther one-stoppers are fuelled til the end. Button looking good if he has done.

smooch71

Pity it wouldn't rain or something.

This is really boring

aidan_dunne

Both Brawn cars very much in damage limitation mode in terms of points lost in this race, it seems. Button looks like he's going to drop a couple more points to Barrichello if things keep going as they are. Barrichello's slowly, gradually, bit-by-bit, eating into Button's championship lead with each race. After the start of the year when everybody was saying that Button was going to have the championship wrapped up with three or four races left to go, it's starting to look more and more like Barrichello is determined to bring this fight all the way down to the wire. And good on him, I say! Would love to see him win the championship, he deserves it after so many years of loyal service to his various teams in F1 and having to defer to his teammates so many times.

smooch71

This is a classic example of KERS killing overtaking. Even if Vettel catches Hamilton the only hope he has of passing is in the pitlane.

With all the work done by the Overtaking Working Group, did nobody think of the negative effect kers would have?

If they need to devise artificial ways of overtaking, then surely it should be mandatory for everyone.

RayM

I have to say, I'm not impressed with the decision to give Rosberg a penalty. He skidded over the line in a very slippery part of the track and then did his best to correct it, losing time in the process. Surely that should have been sufficient punishment. That kind of crappy black & white application of (arbitrary parts of) the rule book ruins F1 for me.

Irishshin

Don't think Rosberg deserved the penalty either. Yes its in the rules but he made a mistake and went back inside the white line.

Such a boring race.

smooch71

Vettel in, no chance of passing Hamilton now.

Dullest race of the year I'm afraid.

aidan_dunne

Drive through now for Vettel as well, who's diffuser also seems to be damaged and he's dropping like a stone now. Scratch what I just said earlier about this race being a damage limitation excercise for the Brawns against Vettel's Red Bull, things are suddenly looking a lot rosier now for the Brawn guys. Red Bull's luck really has ran out in the past few races, hasn't it, what with engine blow ups and things like that as well.

amacachi

smooch71 wrote: »

This is a classic example of KERS killing overtaking. Even if Vettel catches Hamilton the only hope he has of passing is in the pitlane.

With all the work done by the Overtaking Working Group, did nobody think of the negative effect kers would have?

If they need to devise artificial ways of overtaking, then surely it should be mandatory for everyone.

In terms of the overall number of overtakes I'd guess KERS makes no difference whatsoever. Total waste of time and money.


This race is like no-one wants to win other than Lewis.

smooch71

The only interesting thing about todays race is that it closes the gap between Button and Barrichello. Assuming it finished this way.

I've nothing against Button but given Barrichellos length of time in the sport and the fact that at his stage in his career he's driving better than he ever has, I think he deserves it more.

aidan_dunne

Race might be picking up again, could be an interesting finish. It needs to, it's been pretty dull until now.

Amazing how BrawnGP always seem to pull something out of the bag even when things seem to be going wrong for them.

amacachi

And Button beats Rubens by tactics. Didn't see that coming.

Grim.

thank **** the superbikes are running today

amacachi

Grim. wrote: »

thank **** the superbikes are running today

Where's that on?
NASCAR tonight as well.

Grim.

amacachi wrote: »

Where's that on?
NASCAR tonight as well.

eurosport 2 second race on at the mo

aidan_dunne

As if the race wasn't dull enough, Ross Brawn has just made the call to Button to hold station behind Vettel and bring it home. Guess that puts an end to any real excitement we might have seen towards the end!

Irishshin

Bring on Suzuka

amacachi

aidan_dunne wrote: »

As if the race wasn't dull enough, Ross Brawn has just made the call to Button to hold station behind Vettel and bring it home. Guess that puts an end to any real excitement we might have seen towards the end!

Did you see his brakes?


Heikki shouldn't have a drive next year. Reckon the title will be won next weekend.

aidan_dunne

Once again, Brawn pulls something out of the bag and Button pulls a point back on Barrichello, when earlier on in the race it looked like he was going to drop a couple of points to Rubinho. I think Jenson is going to be pretty happy with his result today and I get the feeling that he's going to just take it very easy now and drive for whatever points he can pick up from now till the end of the season in order to just consolidate things. Don't think we'll see him pushing hard or taking any risks for wins now, I think he just wants to bring it home. Rubens has got to push hard if he wants to beat him, though.

Running Bing

Less of these street circuits please.

Its called motorracing not celebrity-attended-cars-going-fast-around-a-city.

Snoozefest. Great result for Button though.

EvilMonkey

RayM wrote: »

I have to say, I'm not impressed with the decision to give Rosberg a penalty. He skidded over the line in a very slippery part of the track and then did his best to correct it, losing time in the process. Surely that should have been sufficient punishment. That kind of crappy black & white application of (arbitrary parts of) the rule book ruins F1 for me.

Its a safety issue isn't it, nothing to go with gaining time. Even on other circuits if a wheel just touches the white line they get a penalty so he should defiantly have gotten one.

Fairly easy for Hamilton today. Usual boring street race. Didn't expect Toyota and Renault on the podium.

Interesting, Webber had to give back a position for going the long way around a corner passing Alonso, Consistency?

Cant wait for Suzuka. :cool: