goodnightboy

One of the most amazing qualifying sessions ever, and I speak as someone who saw every single driver I like - even Nick Heidfeld, who I really only like because I have a crush on him - do badly, with the exception of Trulli maybe. I'm really pleased for Red Bull though, they've done brilliantly all season even without the double diffuser (and it seems highly unlikely that they'll be having the new diffuser anytime soon, seeing as to do so would require a redo of their entire rear chassis). And Alonso, that was really amazing stuff from him as well. The commentators were saying that he always manages to transcend the car he's driving, which is true.

I was stunned at how much McLaren have made up though, with their trial diffuser - Hamilton looks much better and he really is a good driver, even with a bad car. More problems for Ferrari though (but not as bad as in the first two races). And Piquet should be very worried about keeping his seat next season, really. Maybe even Bordais too. But on the whole, a really good qualifying, as I said. At Q2 or something there was a point where the top 10 drivers were separated by a single second. That's insane. It shows how there's really no room for error in Formula 1.

perrygraham

Yessssss. Vettel first. I'm sad I took my sleep over the qualifying but now I'm really excited for the race. I just hope Vettel will do great.

parasite33

True, but they don't need the double diffuser that desperately, they're bloody quick without it.
Yeah... He's massively under performing. I like him, but Renault won't keep him only because he's pretty.

Apparently Fernando has a new diffuser and new engine cover, the team worked on fitting it 'till 5am - http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos...diapoa_601.jpg
I'm not sure if it's an interim diffuser or fully working double decker diffuser. Any guesses?

goodnightboy

I know! Can you imagine if they had the double diffuser though? They might just overtake Brawn...

Strange, huh. It's like Piquet can't have a race without a screwup somehow. To be honest I'm shocked that he's even retained his seat for this season. Oh you can't ask me about Alonso's diffuser. It took me ages to even understand how a diffuser worked, I can't identify them from pictures I'd assume they're interim ones though, unless they were secretly working on a new one all season (highly unlikely). Even if it was the new one I'm sure they'd be testing it and making sure it was optimum.

parasite33

Totally!

I was surprised that he was retained too. I was happy, that he got a second chance, the team seemed to believe in him and by the end of 2008 he showed some signs of improvement. Nelson's race pace isn't that bad, but his qualifying performances are awful... He needs to sort it out as soon as possible.

Jemistry

I'm happy for Alonso too

perrygraham

Yay, Vettel won. And he did such a good performance, never left the track as far as I remember. He was lucky though when Buemi crashed into his car. I've to say it surprised me that Button couldn't follow both Red Bulls cars but the third place is still good.

I so wanted Sutil to finish on the 7th position, IMO he can only show his talent in the rain. Tooo bad he lost the car.

Frankly I think Piquet, Nakajima and Kovalainen don't belong into the F1. I haven't seen a good race of them in ages.

parasite33

Well... That wasn't what I expected. I usually love the rain, but today I really didn't want it to hit the track... The first SC period totally destroyed Alonso's strategy and spinning later on didn't help either.

Vettel - Class of the field today, not a single mistake, perfect drive, totally deserved win. Both Red Bulls were amazing today and not even Brawn cars could challenge them, that was a surprise.

Ele, aren't you a bit harsh on Kovalainen? He's way better than Nelson and Kazuki, not as erratic as them and is definitely faster.

goodnightboy

What an incredible race. I remember one of you saying after Sepang that you wished it would rain in Shanghai and your wish certainly came true The start was a bit boring since it was behind the safety car and all, but some great racing nontheless. Vettel was amazing. He really is one of Formula 1's brightest prospects. Good in both wet and dry - what more can you ask? And only 21 too. You know, I was questioning him moving to Red Bull after Torro Rosso seemed to do really well last season, but the Red Bull car is another thing altogether. I'd say they were the fastest car on the grid (Brawn being second, of course, but they have the help of the diffusers). And look! With a little bit of luck Mark Webber ends up second. I'm pleased for Red Bull, I am. And of course I'm really pleased for Timo as well - to end up in the points despite starting from the pit lane!

Ferrari are in huge, huge trouble though. I don't know what happened with Massa but seriously how much bad luck can one team have? They look far, far off the pace and they have real issues. The car doesn't even handle well at all, bad strategy... you name it, they have the problem. And to a lesser extent BMW as well - Kubica and Heidfeld did terribly in qualifying yesterday and in the race they weren't much better.

Can I say how scary the Kubica-Trulli crash was though? OK I haven't watched the sport much but seeing Kubica mount Trulli's car (or whatever it was that happened) was really scary. And some really bad crashes too. God, I feel so bad for Adrian Sutil. One of the most heartbreaking collisions ever, I was rooting for Force India to get points at last and in the end it didn't happen.

Wow Ele really? Kovalainen seems to be unlucky, so it's not all his fault, but I'd agree that he's going to face serious worries about retaining his seat next season. And Nakajima - I always thought he was quite solid. Not spectacular, but a good backup to Rosberg. No? Piquet, though, like what Gosia says his race pace is OK but he just does so badly in qualifying, it really doesn't help him at all. And the amount of mistakes he makes. I'd be worried if I were him.

perrygraham

I think it's scary that 21 year old Vettel performs that well in wet races. But when you look at his last races he suddenly seems human again lol. But what a comeback.
Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Quite a good race for him as well.

Don't get me wrong about Kovalainen, I've nothing against him. But he's driving for McLaren. And although they don't have the best car this year I don't think Heikki performes well. He isn't the luckiest guy as well, I agree, but still. Sometimes I think he didn't even participate in the race at all.

Statistically Vettel won all races where he started from the pole position.

They had some funny bloopers about the F1 here after the race since it was the 300th GP the German channel here broadcasted it. I hope I can find it on the net somewhere, they had a short scene with Raikkönen where he fell off a yacht. It cracked me up.

And the minute I turned my TV on and saw the rain the phrase " I need a white visor" crossed my mind.
And this time they can't even say it's Schumachers fault like last race.

parasite33

The pace of Ferrari or actually lack of it is astonishing. 3 races and no points, they hadn't have such an terrible start to the season in years. Massa had some kind of electrical problem. Kimi was just slow in the wet. The car is not fast enough and unreliable. It can't get much worse, can it? Like you said Gwen, BMW are in trouble also.

Kubica-Trulli crash didn't look good, I was surprised Kubica was able to continue the race. A weekend to forget for both of them.

The most worrying fact with Piquet it's that he doesn't only spin in the wet (I mean, you know, it happens, Lewis spun a few times too), but he loses the car in dry also and it happens way too often. I kind of feel for him.

ETA: Ele, I understand what you mean. Last year Lewis won the championship and Heikki with the same car was nowhere, but you know he isn't that bad nor slow. Surely he underperformed in 2008, but he outscored Fisi in Renault in 2007 (after a horrible start to his rookie year..). He's mediocre, but can deliver a good performance. He's more or less reliable and you can't say Piquet Jr, Nakajima are reliable.

perrygraham

Okay, maybe he's not in the same category like the other two but I bet McLaren isn't satiesfied with his performance either. And I don't expect anything from him at all and that shouldn't be the case for a F1 driver.

Vettel injured himself on the podium. He cut himelf on the trophy.

parasite33

True. He's solid but McLaren expect more than that.
Really?

ETA: Guys, I just stumbled upon this: The Red Bulletin - Inside the World of Red Bull: Article detail *dies laughing*

goodnightboy

Vettel really is baby Schumi. And I agree about Kovalainen... if he was driving for a mid-grid team that's OK but he's driving for McLaren. And the best teams need someone to support their #1 driver (if they don't have two drivers of equal quality). And Kovalainen just doesn't support Hamilton enough, let alone have any thoughts of being the #1 driver.

I'm sure Rob Smedley had a white visor for his baby oh I'd love to see the bloopers! Please post if you find them!

It is a huge problem for Ferrari, definitely. And they can't even blame the "illegal" diffusers or Schumacher (why are they blaming him anyway?) - their cars don't have the pace, don't handle well in the wet, and now they're removing KERS. Everyone will start catching up to Brawn so if Ferrari don't improve soon they're going to be in big, big trouble.

And about KERS: what does it mean when only 3 cars had KERS in Shanghai? I think they were the two McLarens and Nick Heidfeld. What happened to KERS?

Yeah Piquet seems to lose the car a lot, wet or dry. He should be worried. What, Vettel cut himself on the trophy? And oh my god the Red Bulletin thing is hilarious. I don't get every joke but it's really funny. Thanks for posting it.

ETA: Ele, I just noticed you've been appointed moderator of the 30 Rock board! Congratulations!

perrygraham

Poor him, I don't like when he's named like this...so does Vettel. But yeah, he reminds me a lot of the young Schumacher. Or Senna for that fact.

On this note, the posted link cracked me up.


I'm trying to find it but no luck so far.
As far as I know Ferrari will use KERS in the next race again. It's not like they gave up on it. But even with KERS they suck. Big time.

I love this pic.




Thanks.