European GP Weekend Discussion

EvilMonkey

Valencia hasn't grown on me, no matter how many times BBC say there is a good atmosphere or its a good place to have a GP i cant see it.
I cant see their being much action tomorrow either, i hope I'm proved wrong.

McLaren look strong depending on weights but with kers none will get by them at the start.
Hopefully we will see a good battle between Brawn and Red Bull, I wonder will we see any strategy calls?

Nice to see Kubica in Q3

Maybe Ferrari should by BMW and use it for a young driver development, they need something badly!

ottostreet

While its nice to see Ferrari extending a reward to their test driver, hes awful.

Ferrari really dont plan for emergencies do they? I say..thank Badoer for trying, put him back to his little box in the corner, and hire...Bourdais/Piquet Jnr.

Someone who knows the 09 regulation cars, and isnt race rusty. Lets face it, as bad as they were, they werent three seconds slower than their team-mate!

Aside from that, the McLarens look strong...waiting on the weights now! Brawn look like they have the upper hand on Red Bull. I'm hoping Kimi from 6th scuppers Buttons race!

Quick mention to Grosjean as well...more or less what Piquet would have done, but Grosjean looks a bit more convincing!

RayM

I was impressed by Grosjean. Only around three tenths slower than Alonso in Q1 and Q2.

Poor old Badoer... it's too late to bring someone else in for Belgium, so he should probably be given one more chance (on a more familiar track too) before they drop him. In 1999, he was ok in the wet, so Spa just might suit him.

EvilMonkey

Weights from f1.com

1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 653kg
2. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 655
3. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 662.5
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 654
5. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 661.5
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 661.5
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 665
8. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 656.5
9. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 664.5
10. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 657.5
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 677
12. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 672.5
13. Timo Glock, Toyota, 694.7
14. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 677.7
15. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 688.5
16. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 692.5
17. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 702
18. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 707.3
19. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 678.5
20. Luca Badoer, Ferrari, 690.5

Grosjean did well, i thought Alonso would have been better.

Slutmonkey57b

Is Button's weight advantage going to pay off?
He'll lose a place to Kimi off the start just on KERS, never mind his very poor starting of late. Then he has to make his 3-4 lap advantage pay off in the switchover, and not lose too much time to Barrichello. Since Silverstone he hasn't looked like the same driver he was at the start of the season, and I'm not convinced Brawn have solved their problems at all. The hot weather here is helping their car but it might be throwing off the data they've been gathering compared to how the car behaves in the cold. Spa could be a nightmare for them again.

RayM

Valencia might be the dullest track, but at least there's some interesting stuff happening in the background. The silly season seems to be well underway, with Williams rumoured to be ditching the Toyota engines at the end of the year. Williams Renault for 2010? Red Bull Mercedes?

[SPECULATION]Now that they're losing Alonso, and with Briatore likely to retire in the near future, Renault would do a whole lot worse than to sell up and throw their weight behind Williams (quite a successful partnership in the '90s, I seem to remember).[/SPECULATION]

Also, Jarno Trulli appears to be on the way out of Toyota.

EvilMonkey

RayM wrote: »

Valencia might be the dullest track, but at least there's some interesting stuff happening in the background.

Like what?

beni

Happy to see Lewis Hamilton on Pole Position.

RayM

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Like what?

The annual musical-chairs soap-opera. Rival teams talking openly about Alonso's move to Ferrari (official announcement on that one at Monza, probably). Team in talks with the engine supplier with whom they won five Constructors Championships and four Drivers Championships in the '90s. Compared to last year, when the driver market was virtually static, it's all getting very interesting indeed.

Peadar87

Think it will be a very good race tomorrow. Have a feeling it will be a mcclaren that will be top of the podium come tomorow. Heiki should really be on pole threw it away. A bit disappointed with the red bulls this weekend but im sure they will be there or there abouts. Have a sneaky feeling about ruebens this weekend aswell.

cayenne

McLaren's were running lightest though, balls in Brawn court unless Hamilton and Kovalainen can use the advantage of their light cars.

EvilMonkey

RayM wrote: »

The annual musical-chairs soap-opera. Rival teams talking openly about Alonso's move to Ferrari (official announcement on that one at Monza, probably). Team in talks with the engine supplier with whom they won five Constructors Championships and four Drivers Championships in the '90s. Compared to last year, when the driver market was virtually static, it's all getting very interesting indeed.

Ah right i thought you were on about boats in the port or something :pac:

I dont pay much attention to that stuff myself. Everyone trying to be the first to break the news about Alonso etc... it just annoys me.

cayenne wrote: »

McLaren's were running lightest though, balls in Brawn court unless Hamilton and Kovalainen can use the advantage of their light cars.

Hamilton can go off into the distance with Kovi backing everyone up, Brawn need to finish ahead of Red Bull and Kimi can mix it up with them at the start with Kers. But with no overtaking whatever happens after the first pit stops it will generally finish that way.

amacachi

So who's everyone plumping for this weekend? If Heikki hadn't messed up the last corner I'd say he was a cert, but I'm leaning towards Hamilton.

amacachi

Wonder if Barrichello has fried his tyres on the first lap or is just taking it handy for the start.

amacachi

If Kimi can save half a lap of fuel he could well get past Barrichello in the pits.

f1dan

Only 10 laps in and it looks like a procession

Slutmonkey57b

I hear Button ****ed the start again, now down in 11th. Disasterous performance from him. into the pits earlier than he should be too. He is proving some of his previous criticisms correct - great from the front row, not so good in the middle of the back.

amacachi

Told the da a coupla weeks ago one of the Brawns would win but this morning I told him not to back them because they messed up quali. :pac:

amacachi

Jordan really is full of **** at times.

Peadar87

Great to see reubens win..but what were hamiltons pit crew thinking:eek:, it could have been a really tight finish only for there mess up. Very dissapointed with the red bulls. Fair play to kimi aswell dove a quiet but impressive race

EvilMonkey

Role on spa and some action

Iridium

amacachi wrote: »

Jordan really is full of **** at times.

True. I thought his persistence in getting an interview out of Michael Schumacher was brilliant though.

Delighted for Rubens - but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

lendrew1

I missed the pre-race build-up on BBC, was it any good?

Slutmonkey57b

Good as always. Don't know what people are talking about Jordan being full of crap? He's employed for having opinions, amsumement, and colour commentary, and he's been brilliant at all of them all year. If you don't agree with his opinons, then that's your own business.

On the other hand, I listened to 5 Live today.

I WILL NEVER LISTEN TO LEGARD AND BRUNDLE AGAIN.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant commentary team. More observant, more informative, more intelligent, quicker to react, never interrupt each other, they talk TO each other, and it's fascinating to listen to. I almost hope Ant doesn't get a drive next year so he can commentate again.

IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING TO GET 5 LIVE INSTEAD OF THE STANDARD FEED, DO IT!
NB: I found proxies are unreliable for the video feed but the standard (as opposed to low quality) Iplayer feed for radio works flawlessly.

amacachi

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Good as always. Don't know what people are talking about Jordan being full of crap? He's employed for having opinions, amsumement, and colour commentary, and he's been brilliant at all of them all year. If you don't agree with his opinons, then that's your own business.

On the other hand, I listened to 5 Live today.

I WILL NEVER LISTEN TO LEGARD AND BRUNDLE AGAIN.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant commentary team. More observant, more informative, more intelligent, quicker to react, never interrupt each other, they talk TO each other, and it's fascinating to listen to. I almost hope Ant doesn't get a drive next year so he can commentate again.

IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING TO GET 5 LIVE INSTEAD OF THE STANDARD FEED, DO IT!
NB: I found proxies are unreliable for the video feed but the standard (as opposed to low quality) Iplayer feed for radio works flawlessly.

Opinions are one thing but what he said about the pit stop mess-up costing Hamilton the race is just plain wrong.


Anything is better than Legard tbh. I rely more on the live timing than the commentary, can see what's going to happen after pit-stops etc. way quicker than he ever works out.

enzo7

I was never a jordan always thought he was a complete twat but i hav to say his growing on me this yr.

Slutmonkey57b

The pit stop mess up cost him what, 2 seconds at least in the pits alone, followed by being on the wrong tyre for the middle stint? Pitstops completed, he came out 5 seconds behind Barrichello. Up to that point, the race was totally in his control, he pulled away from Barrichello, maintained his lead, and given the impossibility of overtaking, I'm certain that if that pitstop had worked out the way it should have, he would have been a winner. You may disagree with that opinion too, but that's how I read it.

Gave me an extra 50 points in the F1 comp that he didn't, but hey!

amacachi

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

The pit stop mess up cost him what, 2 seconds at least in the pits alone, followed by being on the wrong tyre for the middle stint? Pitstops completed, he came out 5 seconds behind Barrichello. Up to that point, the race was totally in his control, he pulled away from Barrichello, maintained his lead, and given the impossibility of overtaking, I'm certain that if that pitstop had worked out the way it should have, he would have been a winner. You may disagree with that opinion too, but that's how I read it.

Gave me an extra 50 points in the F1 comp that he didn't, but hey!

Barrichello had at least another 2-3 laps of fuel left and came in early to play it safe. Had the messup not happened he would've pulled out at least another 2-3 seconds. Looking at the times after the first pit-stops Hamilton ran exactly the same after the second one as the first.

EvilMonkey

I think Barrichello would have jumped him anyway, but that was a major mistake from McLaren(the smile on Brawns face when he saw it says allot). Maybe it would have been closer and Hamilton could have forced a mistake from Barrichello but with that circuit and overtaking imposable i dont think so. Good pit stop strategy from Brawn with Barrichello. Easy to say it now bit I think McLaren should have qualified with more fuel even starting from second or third place with kers they could have been in front with the right fuel load.

Charlie-Bravo

Having watched the GP2 race this morning, the F1 race was so conservative....I think when these guys get into F1 they don;t take any chances anymore. Just like when they told Webber that Brawn told Button to over take him...that came to naught.

Poor Badoer, I think he'll struggle even to get into Q2 next week. ferrari will use him Spa, but after that, if he doesn't come in a top 10 finish, he's rightly screwed.

I like Barrichello...fair play to him for keeping it between the white lines.

McLaren did ruin a good climax.

amacachi wrote: »

I rely more on the live timing than the commentary...

Me too. The live timing is excellant...I'd be jumping out of my seat when I pick up something on live timing (like the difference in times between drivers, who's closing on who etc.) My missus reckons I should be a commentator cause I'm quicker at reacting to the guys on tele.


I watch Setanta anyway...just don't like Legard.

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING TO GET 5 LIVE INSTEAD OF THE STANDARD FEED, DO IT!
NB: I found proxies are unreliable for the video feed but the standard (as opposed to low quality) Iplayer feed for radio works flawlessly.

If you have satellite, I think you can use the red button and get Five Live and still watch the race with the Five Live feed...one of the BBC features with red button. not sure if the BBC are still offering it...haven;t used the sat connection in a while.

Slutmonkey57b

I will have Sky up and running soon - haven't had access to it before and only got a reliable workaround for this race. If I had to invest in some sort of powerful radio to get it, I would, the commentary is worth it. Good commentating isn't telling you what's on the screen, or what's on the reported timings (in Legard's case, telling you what the timing graphics on the TV feed are telling us.. on screen), it's about detail, analysis, explanation, guidance, and excitement, all things JL has failed on all year. I was blown away by 5 Live today, it's utterly shocking that these guys are the "reserve" commentators when JL is spending over 2 hours a day boring us to tears and sabotaging any efforts Brundle makes to keep things interesting.

EvilMonkey

Must try the 5live commentary, maybe even the cbbc commentary would be better than Legard.

Slutmonkey57b

Talking over the action yourself is better than Legard. The fact that he's bad isn't the worst part, it's that he does his best to destroy anything Brundle might do to save the commentary. ****ing disaster area.

My solution to those that can't use the red button:
get a reasonable proxy (www.xroxy.com, avoid ones with port 3124-7, coff coff), use the standard (not low badwidth as this switches to real player which will cop you're on a proxy better than the full iplayer) and run the audio only (select listen live from the 5 Live page) from your pc or laptop and switch the sound off on the tv. Or find a radio that will pick up radio 5 on its own.

BaZmO*

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

The pit stop mess up cost him what, 2 seconds at least in the pits alone,

The pit actually lost him a lot more than 2 secs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38gND5ZEmpY

The complete Pitstop took 13.4 secs, and the fuel line was off in 8.5 secs. That's 5 secs he lost.

It was funny listening to McLaren trying to talk it away after the race. You messed up guys, just admit and move on.

Top Dog

2 seconds - 5 seconds. I still reckon Whitmarsh was correct in saying that Reubens probably would have won it regardless.

amacachi

What was Rubens ahead by after the stop, 7 seconds? And like I said, he had 2-3 laps of fuel still in the car when he did pit.