Formula 1 2013: Round 3 - Chinese Grand Prix

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Onwards then, for Round Three of the World Championship. Remaining in the East for another round, it's time for Shanghai and the Chinese Grand Prix.


It is somewhat unfortunate that after such a frenetic start to the season, such a long gap came about almost instantly. We have had time to digest all the data and the facts from Australia & Malaysia, the Lotus dominance of Melbourne, McLaren's poor start, Ferrari looking comfortable, Red Bull comfortably heading home the field in Kualu Lumpur. But the most important thing that time has allowed to cool, is the frayed nerves and flared tempers at Red Bull.


If China had come about just one week after Malaysia, who knows what may have come about? It would be unwise to suggest anything untowardly on the track, seeing as Vettel and Webber are not idiots, but we could have seen the war of words become soap opera-esque. With the team refusing to publically admonish either driver particularly strongly, we can only guess as to what has happened behind closed doors. We have witnessed Horner saying Webber has done the same crime as Vettel in the past, the admission that a feud has been simmering since Brazil 2012, and even theories that Mark was possibly trying to push Vettel back towards the trailing Mercedes, a tactic that backfired. With Red Bull now admitting that 'Multi 21' as an order is gone, the unspoken hierarchy of the drivers appears to be out the window. If Mark truly feels that Red Bull have held him back in the past, and that he, as a driver, is as fast and mentally strong as Sebastian, now is the time to prove it.


What, then, of Ferrari? Massa now leads Fernando in the standings, and after only two races, Alonso finds his challenge weakened by his Malaysian faux pas. Massa faded quite badly last time out, and with no benchmark of his usually stronger team-mate, it is hard to guess whether said fading was driver, car or tyre related. Fernando will need to re-assert his authority quickly, and resume scoring strongly, or this season is doomed to failure yet again.


2nd in the drivers standings, Kimi Raikkonen looks as though he is contending with a car which seems to be on a knife edge with regards to setup. A dream to drive in Australia, as well as the disclosure from James Allison that Kimi only broke traction twice during the entire race, the Finn then went on to have a shocker in Malaysia, with a visibly ill handling car, and a frustrated drive that yielded points, but would have been far worse without the retirements of Button and Alonso. China 2012 has been the only race since his comeback that he has failed to score points in, but he will take heart in the fact that the E20 almost made it to the end while running in second last year.


The battle between the Mercedes drivers could also heat up this time out. Both Rosberg and Hamilton will be keen to put distance between themselves, and the 2012 and 2011 respective winners of this round will hope that the Mercedes will be on the same form as last year. Ross Brawn has publically ruled out the chances of a double, but the Mercs don't seem to have any particular weakness this year, apart from maybe that slight lack of ultimate pace.


The biggest story of the weekend will ultimately be down to the Red Bulls though, regardless of how near to the victory they may be. Will Webber stop playing a team game and summon up one of the electrifying drives we know he is capable of doing? Will Vettel continue to show this ruthless, single minded stubborness and try to crush his team-mate? The only thing we can say with certainty about this weekend is...if the Red Bulls are line astern after the last round of stops, all bets are off. Aren't we lucky there's still seventeen rounds to go?

recyclebin

The Chinese Grand Prix is on three channels this week: BBC, Sky Sports F1 and Setanta.

Practice 1: Fri 03:00
Practice 2: Fri 07:00
Practice 3: Sat 04:00
Qualifying: Sat 07:00
Race: Sun 08:00

Myrddin

flowrider04 wrote: »

the admission that a feud has been simmering since Brazil 2012

What happened between Vettel & Webber in Brazil last year?

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EnterNow wrote: »

What happened between Vettel & Webber in Brazil last year?

At the start of the race Mark was covering Vettel, he was driving very aggressively. Vettel understanding was that Mark would not hinder his chances of the title. There was also a team order of Multi12 (yes we are back to the multi codes ) which Mark didn't obey.

Hope that helps you :cool:

403 Forbidden

On another note, Pirelli confirm they will be using the PZero Yellow Soft tyres. As this is the first race with the softs, could this upset the running order? I think Red Bull may struggle to get the best out of them.

Pirelli expecting the softs to last about 14 - 16 laps.

Myrddin

flowrider04 wrote: »

At the start of the race Mark was covering Vettel, he was driving very aggressively. Vettel understanding was that Mark would not hinder his chances of the title. There was also a team order of Multi12 (yes we are back to the multi codes ) which Mark didn't obey.

Hope that helps you :cool:

I don't remember it too well, was Webber behind Vettel & hassling him? Did he then overtake Vettel and thus disregard Multi 21?

ottostreet

No, the way Horner worded it was a little ambiguous.

He said there has been issues between Mark & Seb since Brazil 2012. The drivers were told Multi12 before the race, which means 'Mark, get Seb ahead of you ASAP'. At race start, instead of allowing Seb through easily, Mark squeezed him to the apex at turn 1, and this put Seb back, and lead to him being in a collision with Senna.

Horner was apparently quite unhappy with Mark after this, but Seb seems to have taken it personally.

the culture of deference

"Multi-21 means car two ahead of car one. Multi-12 means car one ahead of car two," Horner told Sky Sports F1.

mad dave

Thats the first time someone has explained the multi thing properly. Thanks

Jordan 199

I can see Jules Bianchi putting in another superb performance this weekend. He was so very good in Malaysia.

frostie500

Time heals all wounds but is three weeks enough time for Mark Webber to move on from having a Grand Prix victory stolen away from him? It’s highly unlikely that the Australian will be anything less than supremely motivated to bounce back with a victory at the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend and the tension within the Red Bull garage should be intense.

With Webber having spent the last couple of weeks at home in Australia surfing and training away from the media glare that was focused on his teammate he should be at his best this weekend. Webber has always used any case of, perceived or otherwise, preferential treatment of Sebastian Vettel as motivation for some of his best performances and with the backing of almost the entire paddock he should be at his very best this weekend.

Think back to Silverstone 2010 when Red Bull had two new front wings at the British Grand Prix. Vettel damaged his nose and the team decided to take Webber’s wing from his car and give it to the German. It’s easy to forget that Red Bull had already decided that neither driver would use the wing in the race….

Webber however spoke out aggressively about this favouritism and used it as motivation for his famous victory where he celebrated by radioing to the team “not bad for a number two!”

Will this weekend be another time where Webber finds his motivation to perform at his very best and prove to the world that he is still capable of beating Vettel? China has traditionally been a circuit where Vettel has had the edge on his teammate but it would be unwise to underestimate a motivated Webber.

The Shanghai International Circuit

The Chinese Grand Prix circuit is like a microcosm of the nation itself. It is a circuit of contradictions and contrasts. Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn succinctly commented that “the circuit itself is challenging with fast curves, tight corners and two hairpins. The layout requires good straightline speed, braking stability and traction.”

The majority of the track is quite smooth, with only turn 14 suffering from a bumpy entry under braking. With the smooth surface and smooth kerbs you can see drivers attack the slower speed corners and try and create as straight a line as possible from corner entry to exit and maintain as high an apex speed as possible.

With the circuit featuring one of the longest straights of the season, measuring over 1.3km, you could be forgiven for thinking that Shanghai would be one of the faster tracks on the calendar but it in fact has very few moments other than this straight where engines are stressed at full throttle.

Rémi Taffin, Renault Sport’s F1 Head of Operations, talked about the difficulties of the varying requirements of Shanghai places on engine manufacturers:

“It is unique on the calendar,” said the Frenchman. “There is a 1.3km straight where the engine is at full revs and top speed for nearly 18secs, but a relatively low percentage of the lap is spent at full throttle. The engine therefore needs to deliver throughout the entire range.”

The majority of the lap is spent at slow speeds with the lap opening with the snail like opening sector where drivers are forced through the incredibly technical, never ending series of opening corners. The lap opens with the wide open entry to turn one but the right hander gets tighter and tighter and a slightly over zealous driver will find that if they get on the power too aggressively they will be pushed wide and lose lots of time and ruin a lap.

Force India’s Adrian Sutil actually talked about this earlier this week when he looked forward to this weekend’s race:

“There are some unusual corners, such as turn one – the long right hander,” said the German. “You need to be perfect through these slow speed corners or you lose too much time. It’s wide and you can run some different lines through a lot of the corners, which is probably why it’s a track where you can overtake quite easily.”

The middle sector of the lap is faster but again there are slow speed corners where drivers can lose a lot of time with a slight mistake. It is often said that while fast corners will get the adrenaline pumping it is at slower speeds that have a much greater influence on lap-times.

Shanghai is the epitome of this with low speed traction placed at a premium even with the aforementioned long straight. With Shanghai seeing precious little running during the rest of the year the track surface plays a key role in how teams will look to set up their cars with Taffin commenting that the dirty nature of the Shanghai surface playing a key role in how the demands placed on engines is quite unique to China:

“Engine braking needs to be consistent to assist with a stable rear end,” said the engineer. “But the top speed must not suffer on the long straight. The high amount of dust from the factories around the circuit means grip is low, but can also be ingested into the engine, putting it at risk from internal damage.”

It is clear that Shanghai is a track of contrasts but it is also quite popular with the drivers. Last year Nico Rosberg was victorious, the first victory for Mercedes in their current guise. The German has been strong at the track throughout his eight year Grand Prix career and he is looking forward to returning to the scene of his first victory:

“I travel to China next week with very good memories from winning my first Formula One race in Shanghai last year, and having led the race there for the past three years,” commented Rosberg. “I enjoy the Shanghai track a great deal and I have a positive feeling going there with the car that we have at the moment.

“The team have been working very hard to develop our car since returning from Malaysia and I will be at the factory on Monday to complete my preparations in the simulator for the next two races. We've had a strong start to the season and I'm confident that we can keep pushing and hopefully score some good results in China and Bahrain.”

While Rosberg is looking forward to this weekend his compatriot, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, admits that this is not a venue that he is particularly looking forward to visiting:

“The circuit in Shanghai is not particularly one of my favourite tracks,” admitted Hulkenberg. “Nevertheless it’s a demanding one, especially the first few corners and the corners before the back straight. Tyres and strategy will be very important during the weekend."

Even so the German will be looking to score points with Nico continuing to say:

“I have a better feeling now I have driven my first race in the C32, especially because we were able to collect a lot of information. In Malaysia we scored points and that is also my goal for China.”

Intra team battle at Red Bull will be the focus of attention

The Red Bull garage always has the potential for fireworks with the intensely competitive natures of both Vettel and Webber always liable to spark conflict. For the most part of their five year relationship the pair have done a reasonable job of keeping their relationship in check and not allowing their rivalry to spill over into the public domain on more than a handful of occasions.

Maintaining this level of public decorum is now likely to be impossible. Webber will have little reason to feel that he should offer any level of acceptance to what he will see as his teammate’s betrayal. As far as Mark will be concerned there is little reason to look for the Malaysian incident to be swept under the carpet and while he will be unlikely to bridge the subject without prompt he won’t avoid putting extra pressure on Vettel by stoking the media’s appetite for this story.

It is ironic that Shanghai offered the first shoots of Red Bull’s upcoming domination of the sport in 2009. Vettel claimed his second career victory and the team’s first victory in a dominant one-two finish in difficult conditions. This weekend will probably be one where the German tries to rebuild his relationships within the team because it was clear in the aftermath of Sepang that team principal Christian Horner was fuming with his driver’s refusal to follow instructions.

The added risk of having his drivers’ race one another in the final stint of the race meant that their engines and gearboxes were put under unnecessary strain and there was an obvious risk of the team finishing the race with both cars in the gravel trap and a sure fire 43 points being lost.

Horner’s job is to maximise the results of the team and make sure that come November and the season’s end that they win another Constructors’ title. Vettel’s selfishness in Malaysia could have placed their chances in jeopardy and Horner is unlikely to forget that in a hurry.

For Sebastian this race will present an opportunity to race at a track that he has performed well at in the past and he knows that the easiest way for him to move on from the furore would be with another victory. Once the visor clicks into place and Vettel is sitting in his car he is as hard and competitive a driver as anyone but outside of the car he is generally a friendly and talkative young man. He will have been hurt by the media reaction to his decision in Malaysia but ultimately he has shown on numerous occasions a mental resolve that he will have to call upon this weekend.

The subject of Vettel’s refusal to follow team orders has meant that lots of team principals have been asked have they ever faced a similar incident where a driver disregarded an order. Eric Bouillier, team principal of Lotus, talked about how an issue like this can affect the morale within a team:

“It happens because of the adrenaline and excitement of winning a race, but I think in Formula 1 it should not happen,” said the Frenchman. “When it happens you need to fix it and fix it quickly. Yes, one of our drivers if famous for doing pretty much what we wants, but when you have 600 people behind you, there is a certain respect you must have for the team."

The saga of Sepang will run for another while but both Red Bull and Vettel will look to move on from it this weekend.

Raikkonen and Lotus look to bounce back

Kimi Raikkonen fell back to earth in Malaysia with the Melbourne winner largely anonymous throughout proceedings. It had been expected that the tyre advantage enjoyed in Australia would translate to the following race at Sepang but circumstances worked against Kimi over the course of the race as the Finn admitted when looking back at Sepang:

“Malaysia was a tough race,” said the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix winner. “The start was not good and then I lost part of my front wing on the first lap. The car didn't handle too well after that and with the wet conditions it was pretty tricky. The pace wasn't too bad, but it could have been much better when you look at our times on Friday.”

Last year Lotus struggled in China but the new car does seem to have wide operating window so it will be interesting to see if Raikkonen can bounce back this weekend. His teammate however will simply be looking to find consistent handling from his car. Romain Grosjean suffered badly in the opening races with the car suddenly snapping into oversteer or understeer at random times.

The Frenchman was frustrated by this at both early season races but the package has the potential to be strong and if Grosjean can find a consistent setup he could spring a surprise in Shanghai. The three week break will have allowed Grosjean to spend time analysing the data to try and find a solution to his handling problems.

“It's been frustrating for me as sometimes the car gives me what I want and sometimes it doesn't, even if the conditions and setup are very similar,” admitted the Frenchman. “I've been working closely with my engineers and we made good progress over the last race weekend. The car and the latest tyres seem to be very sensitive to having the balance exactly right so that's what we're focusing on.”

Balancing the tyres is very difficult for the drivers but especially so in the midfield. In Melbourne we saw that at the front Raikkonen was able to conserve his tyre wear however his teammate suffered the same excessive tyre wear as everyone else. Grosjean was obviously driving at a much slower race pace but with dirty air and less front end grip the tyres grained and Grosjean suffered badly from wearing rubber. The same issue affected him in Sepang when he was behind Felipe Massa so finding a way to qualify closer to the front will likely hold the key for Grosjean having any chance of fighting for the podium.

Has McLaren had enough time to find performance?

McLaren’s miserable performance in Melbourne was one of the biggest surprises of the season opener and with Malaysia taking place a week later there was little chance of the team finding a performance advantage in the meantime. The last three weeks however have given the team an opportunity to analyse the data from the opening races and try and find some performance from their troublesome car.

Jenson Button started the year as a likely title contender but the Australian performance brought the Englishman back to earth with a bump. He is however a relentless individual and the last three weeks would have given him lots of time to think about ways to drive the team, and the cars development, forward.

The former world champion is looking at China as another chance to start his campaign:

"In a funny way, the Chinese Grand Prix almost feels like something of a reboot of the start of my season,” admitted the Englishman. “Taking home two points from the first two races obviously wasn't what we had in mind at the beginning of the year, but I think everybody in the team has picked themselves up and really attacked the task of addressing our car's issues. We know where we're losing performance, so I think we're actually all looking forward to seeing just what we can achieve in Shanghai.

"The important thing for us as a team is to go into the weekend with clear focus, hone our strengths across the sessions and increase our understanding of the car. I definitely think there's everything to play for with this championship, and I can't wait to get back into the cockpit to start the fight again."

Whether or not the team can find enough performance this weekend is unlikely but as long as they make progress the team will be pleased with the weekend. Having struggled so badly in the last two races

His teammate, Sergio Perez, has talked a lot over the last month about just how much work the team are able to do back at base. The Mexican has been able to use the simulator over the last couple of weeks but the sheer work ethic of the team at the McLaren Technology Centre has moved Perez to be bullish about their prospects going forward:

“We go into round three, and I feel there's a lot of positivity within the team,” said Perez. “We know that we under-performed in Australia and Malaysia, but, Jenson and I nonetheless managed to score some points. We may not have been as far up the order as we'd have liked, but those points-finishes mean the team has now extended its unbroken scoring run to 60 races - that's pretty incredible, and a nice record to be able to maintain. Like everyone within the team, I'm really looking forward to China – it's a great track with a little bit of everything – and I think it'll be a good test of the car."

Team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, faced a similar challenge in 2009 when the team brought a terrible car to the early season races but gradually improved their competiveness as the season progressed and eventually the team won races. This year’s car is nowhere near as poor as the 2009 model but developing an understanding of the problems and shortcomings of the car will be key to how they can move forward.

Given that the team has made some major philosophical shifts with the new car it is understandable, with hindsight, that they are not as competitive as initially expected but the three week break should have given them an opportunity to improve their package.

“We are confident of being able to implement a number of changes this weekend that will widen its operating window and, potentially, improve its performance,” commented Whitmarsh. "The team's ability to respond has been exemplary and both Jenson and Checo has been superb. They have shown themselves to be true, inspirational leaders. The engineers, designers and mechanics, too, have worked tirelessly and painstakingly to unlock the car's potential, and we feel confident that we are starting to turn the page.

McLaren are unlikely to suddenly turn their pumpkin into a carriage this weekend but they should be able to show signs of improvement in the next ten days at both China and Bahrain.

Rookies gear up for Shanghai

Marussia’s Jules Bianchi has enjoyed a superb start to his season and been incredibly competitive for the tail end team. The Frenchman has bolstered his reputation significantly in the opening two races and his dominance of his teammate, Max Chilton, has brought many to question whether Force India were wise to overlook him over the winter.

The Silverstone based team’s loss has been Marussia’s gain and given that he has been close to matching the pace of the more established team’s in the opening two races as he gains experience he could start snapping at their heels in the coming races. It was unfortunate for Bianchi that there has been a three week break but he will be looking to maintain his momentum in China:

“I’m really looking forward to heading to China and getting back to the racing,” he said. “Things had started out so well that it was almost a shame to have to stop for a few weeks, but for the Team it is very important to have the time to look at what we have achieved and how to continue moving forward. For me also, I was able to reflect on what has been a bit of a whirlwind, but a very positive start to my first season of F1 nonetheless. I am quite happy with the progress so far. It’s all about maintaining the momentum now. The target for this race is to keep closing on the guys ahead and be challenging them consistently, lap for lap.”

Chilton will be looking to bounce back from a difficult opening pair of races where he was found wanting in comparison to his teammate but the Englishman is looking forward to getting back to racing this weekend:

“The break since Malaysia has been really beneficial,” commented Chilton. “On the one hand it has given us the chance to reflect on the first two races and what we need to do to keep on making progress. On the other hand, off the back of the first two races of my F1 career, it has also felt a bit like an eternity and I can’t wait to head to China now and get back to racing!”

Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde on the other hand is looking to get as much dry running as possible as he tries to get a better understanding of his car:

“It would be good if it was sunny,” said the Dutchman. “That would mean we could get the most number of laps done and focus on improving our setup options for qualifying, using the practice sessions to give us as many options as possible for the race but also for quali. I didn’t have the car behaving exactly as I’d like in either Australia or Malaysia so I want to get that right in China."

At Williams Valtteri Bottas has had a good start to the season and having practiced at Shanghai last season, in his role as reserve driver, he has some experience of the track and he feels that this and the similarities to Sepang should help battle for the first points of his career this weekend:

“This is a track that shares similar characteristics to the last Grand Prix in Malaysia,” commented the Finn. “I was unlucky not to score my first points in the last race and whilst we aren’t quite where we feel we should be, the team has been working hard to understand the car and bring a package to this race that’s a step forward in performance.”

Setup challenges facing the teams this weekend

The contrasts of the Shanghai circuit obviously means that finding a compromise between top speed for the long straight and good acceleration is key for engineers this weekend. They also need to find a way to ensure that drivers have good grip in the many slow speed corners while also allowing for quick direction changes in some of the higher speed corners.

Sauber’s Tom McCullough, the Swiss squad’s head of Track Engineering, commented about how his team will approach this weekend:

“The Shanghai circuit has a good mix of low, medium and high speed corners,” said the Englishman as he looked forward to the weekend. “The track has several technical sections where corners lead straight into further corners requiring a good car balance and precise driving.
“The smooth track surface and typically low track temperatures have a significant impact on how the tyres perform – especially at the start of the race weekend whilst the track is cleaning up. Pirelli have allocated the Soft and Medium compounds which is the first time we have this pairing this season.”

Lotus technical director, James Allison, also discussed the difficulties of finding the balance needed in Shanghai:

“China presents quite a different challenge to the last two circuits,” he said. “Melbourne has a lot of medium speed corners with relatively few at either end of the scale, while Sepang has a reasonable spread; perhaps slightly biased towards the more high speed corners than average. Shanghai by contrast has almost no high speed corners, featuring predominantly low speed ones with a smattering of medium. Some of the lower speed corners are also extended in their radius, even with tightening arcs. This provides quite a stern test for the tyres, as you have a significant excess of torque over grip making it very easy to wreck a set of rear tyres rather quickly.”

Strategy for this weekend

As McCullough outlined the teams will once again be forced to manage their tyres this weekend and it could be a major challenge for them in the early stages of the Grand Prix. With full fuel tanks and an abrasive track surface we are very likely to see severe tyre wear in the opening stint of the race.
Paul Hembery of Pirelli commented on how the Italian manufacturer is expecting to see three stops this weekend:

“We’ll be bringing our P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tyres to China,” said the Englishman. “This is the same combination as last year although of course the tyres are generally all softer and faster this year. Shanghai is definitely a race where strategy can make a huge difference: in the past we’ve seen a wide variety of strategies being used, with some very close finishes.

“A car that uses its tyres well here certainly has the capability to spring a surprise. Compared to the last round in Malaysia and the next one in Bahrain, we should see some comparatively cool temperatures in China, but with plenty of energy going through the tyres we would expect most competitors to stop three times.”

In Melbourne we saw Kimi Raikkonen enjoy a significant advantage in terms of tyre wear and the Finn romped to a dominant victory. When asked about the potential for this weekend to offer a similar challenge to those faced by team’s in the season opening Melbourne race Raikkonen’s technical director commented that:

[/I]“It's generally quite cool in Shanghai meaning that graining will be an issue once again,” commented Allison. “The smoothness of the asphalt which is comparable to that of Melbourne and from what we've learned so far the E21 is reasonable in conditions where graining is rife, so we're hoping for more of the same in China...”[/I]

Formula 1 revolves around Pirelli tyres….

Pirelli have come under a lot of criticism from some quarters for the lack of durability from their race tyres this season. It’s a familiar refrain at the start of the season that drivers’ and teams’ cannot find the balance between speed and consistency with the new tyres and that they are being forced to make too many pitstops.

The same thing was said in 2011 and last season and while the early season races resembled a lottery at times and provided some surprising results but the majority of the time the leading teams did find a balance between speed and durability even though they may have had to use three stops to get to the finish.

This season we have seen in Melbourne and Sepang that it was very difficult to get more than a handful of laps before suffering from excessive tyre wear. It is likely to be the same again this weekend but as the year progresses and teams generate more and more data from the season and with this experience they will find the balance between performance and durability.

It’s simply a case of gaining experience with the tyres and it simply take time. Twelve months ago we started the season with seven different winners because it simply took time to understand the rubber but by the summer the playing field was more established and races reached a more balanced medium. The same will happen this season but it will take time.

Pirelli’s motorsport czar, Paul Hembery, talked about how the early season races can provide surprises before team’s understand the rubber fully:

"China has often produced some of the best races of the year, where strategy has been at the forefront of the action. With all our compounds having got softer this year the degradation is deliberately more extreme leading to increased performance, but history has shown that it never takes too long for the teams and drivers to get on top of the tyres.

"Shanghai is less aggressive on the tyres than the last round in Malaysia but we would expect to see the majority of competitors go for three stops although some may try two. Last year we had a new winner with Mercedes and Nico Rosberg, who were able to get the most out of their tyres from the very beginning of the weekend in order to spring a surprise. That goes to show exactly what is possible with the correct tyre management at this point in the season."

Weather for this weekend

A

the culture of deference

Jordan 191 wrote: »

I can see Jules Bianchi putting in another superb performance this weekend. He was so very good in Malaysia.

He was on the F1 show this week. He says his reason for looking good against chilton is that he did 9 FP1 sessions with Force India in 2012 and was Ferrari's test and reserve driver for the 2011 season.He says Max will be matching him soon.

ottostreet

Bianchi is special, talent wise. Whether he has the head for it remains to be seen. No reasons to doubt him so far.

deecaz

Oh dear, Seb doesn't seem to able to leave it alone. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22106490

Apparently he'd probably ignore team orders again and it was probably payback because he feels he's got no support from Mark ever. Talk about making things a hundred times worse. I imagine all the other teams are absolutely delighted, the chances of the red bulls taking each other out must be extremely high now.

lee_baby_simms

Vettel is a poisonous little **** when he wants to be.

ScumLord

At least Vettles honest about it. I never really expected him to hold back, winning is like he's heroin.

Maybe they could ban team order for the first half of the season so that everyone can race to their best ability. Or ban them altogether, the problem with that is you'll always have the sneaking suspicion that it's going on in the background.

Jordan 199

ScumLord wrote: »

Maybe they could ban team order for the first half of the season so that everyone can race to their best ability. Or ban them altogether, the problem with that is you'll always have the sneaking suspicion that it's going on in the background.

There's no way team orders will ever be banned IMO.

ScumLord

Jordan 191 wrote: »

There's no way team orders will ever be banned IMO.

Probably, it would be next to impossible to enforce anyway.

Jordan 199

ScumLord wrote: »

Probably, it would be next to impossible to enforce anyway.

Exactly. There is no way the FIA would be able to police team orders.

lolie

One thing i'm looking forward to in China is having EJ back on the bbc.
He was badly needed after the race in Malaysia,

recyclebin

After the first two practice sessions it looks close between Ferrari, Lotus, Red Bull and Mercedes. Mclaren also look to be improving. Button was 6th in both sessions. The Mclarens are going through a huge amount of test work this weekend to try catch up and find some pace.

Slattsy

Hey,

Does anyone know what time SkyF1 show race replay at on Sunday?

Frank Bullitt

Looks like a good race on the cards. Ferrari look quick with the updates, Lotus are solid as are Merc, RB look a bit behind but never count them out.

Myrddin

Its always hard to judge the RB's by the practice sessions, they tend to play their cards very close

Scotty #

lolie wrote: »

One thing i'm looking forward to in China is having EJ back on the bbc.
He was badly needed after the race in Malaysia,

Totally agree. I just can't take to Perry at all. Didn't mind her so much with the bikes but she comes across as merely a presenter in the F1 and not a fan at all. I just hope the beeb can see this too!

Scotty #

Jordan 199

Mercedes sold 212,060 cars in China last year. How very interesting.

T-Maxx

Jordan 191 wrote: »

Mercedes sold 212,060 cars in China last year. How very interesting.

More interesting than your post for sure.:p

Charlie-Bravo

What is interesting is the soft tyre problems with them graining immediately and only getting about 10 laps out of them - so hopefully the Q3 qualifiers having to start on their soft tyre but only if they run their fastest lap on them in Q3. Perhaps the likes of Mercs or those down the top 10 (McLaren) will get into Q3 but only run out a fresh set of options. Options, Options, softs to win me thinks?

It's sounding more like a 3 stopper than a two stopper if the softs can't last a decent stint.

McLaren (with Button at least) look alright again this weekend, hopefully he ca have a clean race and get the podium he should have gotten last time out.

If someone doesn't have a chance at pole then I would think they'll either sit out Q3 or stick the hards on. From the wear we're seeing so far at least that looks the smartest option.

Jordan 199

I wonder will the Williams drivers come away with something this weekend. They have had a tough start to season so far.

Rascasse

People using softs in Q1 (and I assume Q2). I wonder how many in Q3 will not set a time, or set a time on the mediums to try and get a jump in the race.

About 8 laps at the end of the softs looks sensible to me!

That is total Bull**** from Red Bull. Mark should just drive into Vettel tomorrow, pick his **** up from the motorhome and moon the lot of them as he makes his way out.

donspeekinglesh

Red Bull fu(k Webber over big time.

Ghost Train

Conspiracy theories with Webber dropping out? lol

Mightn't matter much if he gets through to Q3 and some of the drivers don't set fast times in Q3

Ghost Train

Good job from Button, Webber 14th

The Q2 standings would make for a nice grid, Kimi and Button starting there could still push for the win or at least podiums.

Brundle said earlier on that the Toro Rossos looked awful, shows what he knows. :pac:

Ghost Train

Strategy might be interesting here, looks like Vettel mightn't set a time

I guess you'd be better setting any sort of time on the harder tyre

Rascasse

I wonder why they didn't let him try to get back to the pits? He stopped at the hairpin not too far from the pits. He starts at the back regardless so might as well try to get back.

Ghost Train

Massa for pole?

Scotty #

Deleted User wrote: »

That is total Bull**** from Red Bull. Mark should just drive into Vettel tomorrow, pick his **** up from the motorhome and moon the lot of them as he makes his way out.

Thus costing himself millions and millions of dollars and probably ending his career. Never going to happen.

hotwhiskey

Ghost Train wrote: »

Massa for pole?

5th?

Just Massa, Button and Vettel on the mediums?

Scotty #

Scotty # wrote: »

Thus costing himself millions and millions of dollars and probably ending his career. Never going to happen.

If the probably $50 million he's made to date isn't enough then I don't think the next $8-10 million is going to help too much.

Ghost Train

Thought more of them would have gone for the medium tyre but I guess most want pole, lotus might do well like Australia

Hamilton hopefully gets pole

Kimi should be able to go furthest out of the soft runners but is that really any advantage in the race?

Also Rosberg should be starting either 9th or 10th :pac:

Max_Charger

Great stuff from Ham. Did anyone see what Sutil was saying about Kimi blocking him in Q3?

Charlie-Bravo

"Button you are P8, all runners ahead are on options"

Button:

Max_Charger

Max_Charger wrote: »

Great stuff from Ham. Did anyone see what Sutil was saying about Kimi blocking him in Q3?

Nothing shown on Sky Sports F1 about it yet.