Forums → The Tavern → F1 championship 2011
| 161 | 25397 |
The 2011 Formula 1 season is now but 3 weeks away. Already there has been drama, with the cancelation of the Bahrain grand Prix. This season is shaping up to be great again though, with multiple teams in contention and plenty of great drivers, as well as the introduction of adjustable rear wings and the reintroduction of the KERS system. So, what do you think about the season. Until the season starts, this thread shall be for prediction and general pre-season discussion.
And as an extra, the current driver line-up for the season.
Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber
McLaren: Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa
Mercedes GP: Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosburg
Renault: Nick Heidfeld, Vitaly Petrov
Williams: Rubens Barrichello, Pastor Maldonado
Force India: Adrian Sutil, Paul di Resta
Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi, Sergio Perez
Toro Rosso: Sebastian Buemi, Jamie Alguersuari
Lotus: Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen
HRT: Narain Karthikeyan, TBA
Virgin: Timo Glock, Jerome d'Ambrosio
- 161 Replies
I bet you guys are a little happier now. I am. Hamilton STUCK it to Vettel. This season is ON. Sort of.
I was upset that I couldn't watch this round on TV because THE TV HERE DOESN'T SUPPORT HDTV. LAME. I almost didn't want to watch because I was half thinking that a certain unlucky driver was going to have a miserable race. But a podium from 18th on the grid, massive signal to everybody, and possibly, despite circumstances, a boost for him morale-wise too. After all not only did he pull something big, Vettel lost to a McLaren, at about the same time that he beat the other. AND he scored the fastest lap.
The team gives all the good stuff to Vettel and let Mark struggle with the left overs.
The reason for this is because Vettel was hand-picked and raised by the Red Bull team. He's pretty much their first star project in F1.
Okay, enough one-track mindedness from me. I'm also a fan of Renault, they've got the pace and the competitiveness, and their drivers are genuinely good (Petrov being a little... prone to really bad errors, such as the "flying Russian" in Malaysia, lol.) All in all, though, it still does look as if Red Bull, despite their problems, are still the benchmark. I'm hoping Ferrari can iron out whatever pace issues they're having, because last season's 3-way battle was seriously exciting.
I think today's race proves how great a racer Mark Webber is, coming back from 18th to get a podium finish and getting the fastest lap in today's race was amazing.
But today I think I was more impressed by the mercedes team, this is the most competitive I've seen them.
and alas poor alonso, his fastest lap was still slower than trulli's fastest lap. Not that I care much, never been much of an alonso fan
Wow what a race! I wasn't expecting that! I'll comment later because I just finished watching it and I'm too excited to think!
That was a nice crash by Vettel during Practice two.
I can't wait for the Qualifs to start so we can see if the Mercedes team is as fast as they think they are.
So far it seems Mercedes aren't performing as fast as they were in practice, but this is still in Q1
Also ferrari still not performing as competitively as they used to.
It wasn't a bad qualif for Mercedes but Schumacher was only 8th. At least he made it into Q3. RedBull is still way ahead so it looks like another boring Grand Prix is coming. Let's hope there will be some surprises like in the last race.
Let's hope there will be some surprises like in the last race.
Isn't Rosburg getting third in qualifying a surprise in itself? I would like to see someone other than Red Bull and McLaren win. That would be great. Unfortunately, I don't get to watch the race live tomorrow, due to me needing to be at my Church. I bet the race will be exciting though.
Rosberg is a very good driver. Put him in a MacLaren and he'll win often.
Yeah I think everybody was looking funny at Rosberg lol! Short of there being a spectacular crash I don't see Vettel losing this one, if Rosberg gets by Webber as he promises he will (being on the clean side of the track, and Webber's launches not being the best), that's probably going to be the case. And then... you'll see how it goes.
Then again it's also noted that turn 8 is murder on the tyres, so tyre strategy could make for some unexpected turn of events...
As of half a minute ago, Vettel won again!
Not that this comes as much surprise, so it seems. A little alteration in tyre strategy as it was previously noted that once the rubber runs out, the grain has next-to-no traction, so Button's hope that his smooth driving would gain him net advantage by having to pit less turned out to be incorrect.
Encouragingly, Webber betters his record by coming in second after battling early with Rosberg, and later with Alonso, who eventually scored Ferrari's first podium of the year. Not quite good enough to get one up on either of the RBRs, but getting close! Not so happy will be the McLarens, and Rosberg, who was unable to really hold Webber off significantly despite passing him as he foretold.
Success story of the day was the overtaking machine Kobayashi, who managed to score a point after starting last on the grid due to mechanical problems that prevented him from qualifying. Top stuff.
Success story of the day was the overtaking machine Kobayashi, who managed to score a point after starting last on the grid due to mechanical problems that prevented him from qualifying. Top stuff.
Yeah he deserved it.I would of liked to to see how well he would of done in qualifying.
The Top 3 were the ones that I think deserved to be on the podium.
I'm really disappointed with Schumacher's performance. I'm starting to lose hope. His 3 years of retirement killed his competitiveness.
I thought Rosberg would get a podium but I think he didn't take care of his tires. Why did the FIA switch to Pirelli, they were doing fine with Bridgestone.
The positive thing about Sunday his Jean Todd's decision to try bringing back testings during the season. It'll help the new teams develop their cars faster because it's pretty stupid having to test new parts on Friday instead of concentrating on getting the cars ready for the race.
Why did the FIA switch to Pirelli, they were doing fine with Bridgestone.
They didn't choose to change to Pirelli. Bridgestone decided to leave, for reasons that I'm not sure of.
I would also like to see the return of testing. See the advance in racing is always awesome.
So I apologize for forgetting to post results and points (if anyone really cares), but here it goes.
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Mark Webber
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Lewis hamilton
5. Nico Rosburg
6. Jenson Button
7. Nick Heidfeld
8. Vitaly Petrov
9. Sebastien Buemi
10. Kamui Kobayashi
Points standings:
driver:
1. Sebastian Vettel------------------93 points
2. Lewis Hamilton-------------------59
3. Mark Webber-------------------- 55
4. Jenson Button-------------------46
5. Fernando Alonso-----------------41
6. Felipe Massa--------------------24
T7. Nick Heidfeld------------------ 21
Vitaly Petrov
9. Nico Rosburg-------------------20
10. Kamui Kobayashi----------------8
Constructor
Red Bull----------------------- 148 points
McLaren Mercedes---------------105
Ferrari------------------------65
Renault-----------------------42
Mercedes---------------------26
Sauber------------------------8
Torro Rosso--------------------6
Force India---------------------4
Our next race is the Grand Prix of Spain at the fast pace Circuit de Catalunya. Will Vettel continue his dominance, or will another take victory find out on the weekend of the 22nd.
Success story of the day was the overtaking machine Kobayashi
Kobayashi is another good driver who needs a faster car. It's not the first time he does a lot of passing. Didn't he pass Alonso and Webber in an other race last year?
I was reading a comment made by Fernando Alonso on the F1 site. He said that he still think he can win the championship because the Ferrari team is improving. I don't know about that because the other teams are also improving so it's a long way for them to come back but as he said, the season has just started so we'll see what happen during the European races.
You must be logged in to post a reply!