Formula 1 2017: Round 2 - China Grand Prix

Harika

Second Round of the year and it seems to be a rained out weekend, what will be good for some fun, but will muddy the look onto the real performance of the cars and the overtaking situation.



TV program:

Friday:

First practice 03.00
Second practice 07.00

Saturday:

Third practice 05.00
Qualifying at 08.00

Sunday:

Race from 06.30 with lights off at 7.00
Highlights on Channel 4 at 14.30

Giovanazzi in for Wehrlein, who is still not fit to drive

Weather: http://www.accuweather.com/en/cn/shanghai/106577/hourly-weather-forecast/106577

Harika

As the weather is really bad and the helicopter couldn't start, no second free practice. And as Sunday is to be expected as very bad, an emergency plan has been produced to race on Saturday or Monday.

Phoenix Wright

Harika wrote: »

As the weather is really bad and the helicopter couldn't start, no second free practice. And as Sunday is to be expected as very bad, an emergency plan has been produced to race on Saturday or Monday.

Is this a first? I can't remember this ever happening since I started watching F1

Harika

Phoenix Wright wrote: »

Is this a first? I can't remember this ever happening since I started watching F1

I think they moved the start time earlier or delayed it for hours, but not for a day. it is still in discussion so no word yet. But it is quite common in NASCAR, where Liberty might get the idea from.

Ghost Train

Would this have happened with Bernie at the wheel...

Hope it doesn't effect the race or qualifying

I do remember they had delays in practice in previous years too

skipper_G

Ghost Train wrote: »

Would this have happened with Bernie at the wheel...

Hope it doesn't effect the race or qualifying

I do remember they had delays in practice in previous years too

I can't see what difference Bernie would have made, it's not the first time it's happened. Shanghai has a terrible problem with smog and when you mix that with the bad weather it's kind of unavoidable. No matter what it's a bad advertisement for F1 & China.

Ghost Train

skipper_G wrote: »

I can't see what difference Bernie would have made, it's not the first time it's happened. Shanghai has a terrible problem with smog and when you mix that with the bad weather it's kind of unavoidable. No matter what it's a bad advertisement for F1 & China.

A few phone calls to the right people and smog might be gone by Saturday

Jordan 199

Wheely nice wheels.

Alan2016

Harika wrote: »

As the weather is really bad and the helicopter couldn't start, no second free practice. And as Sunday is to be expected as very bad, an emergency plan has been produced to race on Saturday or Monday.

No race on Saturday - Official. It'll be on Sunday.

I wonder which team will be more penalized by the actual no free practice situation

Sabre0001

Love that they did a graphic for him!

Joeseph Balls

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Wheely nice wheels.

They look like fancy milk drums

Charlie-Bravo

Read all about it. Your free programme for the race weekend. Liberty are doing things right!

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/features/2017/4/china-digital-race-programme-2017.html

AMKC

So how was FP1 was there any spins or crashes?
Is FP3 still going ahead?

Cookie_Monster

This rubbish of not running a session because the chopper cannot land at one particular hospital is not acceptable IMO. How many top class hospitals does somewhere the size of Shanghai have (24m people) There should be alternatives available or accept that road transport would have to be used.

blackdog2

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

This rubbish of not running a session because the chopper cannot land at one particular hospital is not acceptable IMO. How many top class hospitals does somewhere the size of Shanghai have (24m people) There should be alternatives available or accept that road transport would have to be used.

Top class hospitals? Very few I would imagine

Traffic in China is chaotic at the best of times, worse at GP time. I think what this shows is that greater care needs to be taken in where a grand prix is held.

lfc200

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

This rubbish of not running a session because the chopper cannot land at one particular hospital is not acceptable IMO. How many top class hospitals does somewhere the size of Shanghai have (24m people) There should be alternatives available or accept that road transport would have to be used.

Down to where a specialist neurological unit is available not just a top class hospital. I believe the regs are that a driver needs to be able to get to that hospital within 20 minutes if the worst happens. I don't find anything wrong with that rule at all!
The size of Shanghai means that hospital is not within 20 minutes of the track by road.

Cookie_Monster

lfc200 wrote: »

Down to where a specialist neurological unit is available not just a top class hospital. I believe the regs are that a driver needs to be able to get to that hospital within 20 minutes if the worst happens. I don't find anything wrong with that rule at all!
The size of Shanghai means that hospital is not within 20 minutes of the track by road.

not an issue since they did the blindingly obvious and moved all the required gear to a nearer location. Why not just do that in the first place...

lfc200

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

not an issue since they did the blindingly obvious and moved all the required gear to a nearer location. Why not just do that in the first place...

So expect a hospital to move all specialist equipment to another hospital beside an F1 track just because a race is on?

Cookie_Monster

lfc200 wrote: »

So expect a hospital to move all specialist equipment to another hospital beside an F1 track just because a race is on?

no, expect F1 to plan properly for easily foreseeable weather situations...

skipper_G

Some random thoughts after Q1.

That will not do Giovinazzi's fledgling career much good.
Verstappen's going to be praying for rain now starting from back there assuming his issue can be fixed before the race.
Ocon is miles away from Perez, if he's as great a prospect as people in the know keep saying, how good does that make Perez!

skipper_G

Was close enough qualy session, hoping for a good race. Ferrari look pretty close to Mercedes on a track where I expected Merc to have a bigger advantage

thierry14

Was that a lap record?

Lewis time?

Mike Litoris

thierry14 wrote: »

Was that a lap record?

Lewis time?

Ben Edwards mentioned it was an all time record.

Looking forward to see what Max can do from the back of the grid. Be interesting to see what Ferrari can do but I reckon Merc have it in the bag. Should be a good indication of how bad/indifferent overtaking is going to be for the rest of the season.

flazio

Deja vu here.
Dear Ferrari,
Please don't fudge (as Grosjean put it) up the strategy tomorrow.

Although I wonder if the drop off in Raikkonen's performance was down to the team setting up the car for a wet race tomorrow.

Top Dog

Missed it all bar the last 3 in Q3. What happened to Max?

skipper_G

flazio wrote: »

Deja vu here.
Dear Ferrari,
Please don't fudge (as Grosjean put it) up the strategy tomorrow.

Although I wonder if the drop off in Raikkonen's performance was down to the team setting up the car for a wet race tomorrow.

The cynic in me says the drop off for Kimi has nothing to do with setup and more to do with him not being as quick as his teammate. It's got the potential for an unpredictable race which is the kind of situation Ferrari have fudged up strategy wise in recent years. I hope they get it right this time.

skipper_G

Top Dog wrote: »

Missed it all bar the last 3 in Q3. What happened to Max?

Sky said it was an issue with engine software. Autosport reporting it was a misfire caused by a problem with the ignition coil.

The end result was he had no power so was miles off the normal pace.

recyclebin

Alonso seems to be getting alot more out of the car than Vandoorne. Mclaren are doing better than i thought they would but still miles off where they should be.

Ghost Train

I think Honda might have better engine once we get to Europe which might help. Good to have two different cars on front row. Max having to overtake a few cars could be good to see. Weather might be a bit different tomorrow, could mix up thing if it's wet

skipper_G

recyclebin wrote: »

Alonso seems to be getting alot more out of the car than Vandoorne. Mclaren are doing better than i thought they would but still miles off where they should be.

Vandoorne is still only a rookie and he has the toughest task on the grid. Up against a double champion with a reputation for getting results better than the cars he drives would seem capable of. And all the while having to drive that donkey of a car McHonda delivered. I pity him, it will be very difficult to stand out this year.

skipper_G

Grosjean & Palmer both received 5 place grid penalties for failing to slow sufficiently under double waved yellows after Giovinazzi's accident in Q1. They will start at the back tomorrow

Charlie-Bravo

Row 1 1. Lewis Hamilton 1’31.678
2. Sebastian Vettel 1’31.864
Row 2 3. Valtteri Bottas 1’31.865
4. Kimi Raikkonen 1’32.140
Row 3 5. Daniel Ricciardo 1’33.033
6. Felipe Massa 1’33.507
Row 4 7. Nico Hulkenberg 1’33.580
8. Sergio Perez 1’33.706
Row 5 9. Daniil Kvyat 1’33.719m
10. Lance Stroll 1’34.220
Row 6 11. Carlos Sainz Jnr 1’34.150
12. Kevin Magnussen 1’34.164
Row 7 13. Fernando Alonso 1’34.372
14. Marcus Ericsson 1’35.04
Row 8 15. Antonio Giovinazzi No time
16. Stoffel Vandoorne 1’35.023
Row 9 17. Max Verstappen 1’35.433
18. Esteban Ocon 1’35.49
Row 10 19. Romain Grosjean* 1’35.223
20. Jolyon Palmer* 1’35.279

*Five-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently for double waved yellow flags

Vic_08

skipper_G wrote: »

Ocon is miles away from Perez, if he's as great a prospect as people in the know keep saying, how good does that make Perez!

Not really a fair comparison, Ocon was on a quick lap at the end of Q1 but had to abort with the redesigned Sauber sitting on the home straight.

Ghost Train

Decent time from Bottas considering only 2nd race with team. Vettel with reasonable advantage over Kimi, probably suits the team to have a clear number one but would be better if Kimi finds a bit more pace from the car.

AMKC

Well that was an exciting qualifying season. I agree about Vandoorne having the toughest drive on the grid and I don,t envy him in the slightest.
Nice to see the top four cars mixed up a bit and it seems that Lewis is back on form.
Hope we get a great race on Sunday.
Alonso once again showing why he is one of the best ever F1 drivers by getting that car into the position he got. Not easy. Id say Mclaren Honda are missing not having JB there. In the long run do maybe a tough drive at the beginning of his career is good for Vandoorne as he will be learning lots and will have all this experience for whereever his career takes him.

Harika

Wet track but no rain, might get interesting

Ghost Train

Harika wrote: »

Wet track but no rain, might get interesting

looks like might be intermediates for start (or possible slicks)
forecast, no rain for first 30min

Probably dry enough for super softs and since it's a wet race that's all they'll have to run

Phoenix Wright

I'm looking forward to this, I'd like to see Bottas give it a proper go. Most were writing him off when he signed for Mercedes, though I've been pretty impressed by how quickly he has adapted so far

vectra

Could be an interesting start .

Harika

Sainz on dry tyres. Could work for him

skipper_G

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Probably dry enough for super softs and since it's a wet race that's all they'll have to run

"My name is Carlos Sainz Jr, I will accept your challenge"

Read in Antonio Banderas voice for maximum effect

Ghost Train

Hope rain sometime during race to keep it interesting

Or at least give us more than one pitstop

Track looks very dry. Good for Sainz on dry

Mike Litoris

Lets go

Mike Litoris

Jesus Max 8th already!

Mike Litoris

Alonso 8th.

skipper_G

Verstappen P7 by the end of lap 1. How is that even possible?
Honorable mention for Alonso who jumped 5 places

Ghost Train

Might be messy few laps now, with slicks losing temperature

Ghost Train

Big crash for Sauber again

Phoenix Wright

Giovinazzi AGAIN!!!

skipper_G

I don't think Wehrlein will be too worried about hanging on to his seat now. Giovinazzi has had a horrible weekend