Belgium Grand Prix 2011, Spa Circuit - Race 12/19

CaptainRAVE · 29 Aug 2011 at 09:56

Vettel certainly has had the luck on his side this year.

Dutch Guy · 29 Aug 2011 at 12:25

CS||nuTs said:

Congrats, I guess you are already thinking what you will spend you championship bonus on

But in the sake of an exciting championship please bake the next aero parts at a wrong temp please

sunama · 29 Aug 2011 at 12:43

The scary thing is, that I can't see what will change next year that will prevent a repeat of 2010 & 2011. And IF nothing changes, then RBR will once again be the team to beat.

Slam62 · 29 Aug 2011 at 12:51

sunama said:
The scary thing is, that I can't see what will change next year that will prevent a repeat of 2010 & 2011. And IF nothing changes, then RBR will once again be the team to beat.

I don't see why things shouldn't be closer next year, just depends whether McL decide to test the right car or not.

sunama · 29 Aug 2011 at 12:54

What was said during commentary in yesterday's race was that RBR evolved their car from 2009, to 2010 and then to 2011.

McLaren on the hand, appear to have started from scratch, every single year.

In 2012, McLaren are not changing any of their policies and are going about their business in the exact same way they did in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

I believe, nothing is changing for 2012.

Now, with Ferrari...they are the most likely to change their methodology as they are desperate for success and are under massive pressure. After the arrival of Alonso, there simply aren't any excuses.

Slam62 · 29 Aug 2011 at 12:55

CS||nuTs said:
blah blah can you hate much more,i mean it not as if 600 people are slogging their guts out to get these results.

tbf, the same number are doing the same at other teams, having said that, RB have done a much better job when it mattered.

It looks as if the McL and RB cars are fairly even but RB get everything right and McL get things wrong.

Anyway it's definitely taken the edge of the second half of the season.

Slam62 · 29 Aug 2011 at 13:01

sunama said:
What was said during commentary in yesterday's race was that RBR evolved their car from 2009, to 2010 and then to 2011.

McLaren on the hand, appear to have started from scratch, every single year.

In 2012, McLaren are not changing any of their policies and are going about their business in the exact same way they did in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

I believe, nothing is changing for 2012.

Now, with Ferrari...they are the most likely to change their methodology as they are desperate for success and are under massive pressure. After the arrival of Alonso, there simply aren't any excuses.

yes, I agree, I believe McL used to and may still have a rolling 3 year program with 3 chief designers, I thik they need one good one.

Alonso has impressed me this year, much better than last year, he seems to be enjoying it a lot more.

I think Hammi just can't accept the limits of his car and Button just seems to be getting better.

sunama · 29 Aug 2011 at 13:02

I actually think that McLaren, Ferrari and RBR are now evenly matched.
The difference is Vettel. For me, Vettel has been this year's best driver, by a good margin. When he is "on it", he makes the RBR look better than it actually is.

Yesterday, Alonso should've won. In the first half of the race, Ferrari had the fastest car and during this period Alonso should've hammered the RBR cars into oblivion. In the 2nd half of the race, when the RBR cars were fastest, Vettel hammered the rest of the field and as a result, won the race.

Vettel (and even Webber) did their job, but Alonso didn't do his.

sunama · 29 Aug 2011 at 13:04

Slam62 said:
Alonso has impressed me this year, much better than last year, he seems to be enjoying it a lot more.

I'm not sure if we are seeing the same Alonso. For me, last year, in the 2nd half of the season, Alonso demonstrated just why he is regarded as the best driver in F1.

This year....he hasn't really turned it on. A great example is yesterday's race. When he had the fastest car (1st half of the race), he didn't hurt the opposition. When Vettel had the fastest car (2nd half of the race), he hurt the opposition.

CaptainRAVE · 29 Aug 2011 at 13:04

CS||nuTs said:
blah blah can you hate much more,i mean it not as if 600 people are slogging their guts out to get these results.

Didn't seem like there was any hate in the post? He just stated that RB have had a fair bit of luck on their side, which they have.

As sunama said, Vettel has been driving really well this year.

SpeedFreak · 29 Aug 2011 at 13:18

while I'm not his biggest fan, Vettel has been the best driver of the season with a little bit of the rub of the green. Button is a close second though.

Duke · 29 Aug 2011 at 13:21

SpeedFreak said:
while I'm not his biggest fan, Vettel has been the best driver of the season with a little bit of the rub of the green. Button is a close second though.

Yeah having a wheel come off and other mechanical failures really helped Button

He has done as well as expected given that plus some poor team decisions for him and Hamilton.

3dcandy · 29 Aug 2011 at 13:26

had a trawl through, dunno if this has been posted yet...but....Hamilton apologises for crash

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/14701797.stm

sunama · 29 Aug 2011 at 14:00

SpeedFreak said:
while I'm not his biggest fan, Vettel has been the best driver of the season with a little bit of the rub of the green.

I'm glad that somebody apart from me thinks this way.
Vettel's strong run actually started from last year, so his consistency is mind blowing.

Locky · 29 Aug 2011 at 14:01

sunama said:
I actually think that McLaren, Ferrari and RBR are now evenly matched.
The difference is Vettel. For me, Vettel has been this year's best driver, by a good margin. When he is "on it", he makes the RBR look better than it actually is.

Yesterday, Alonso should've won. In the first half of the race, Ferrari had the fastest car and during this period Alonso should've hammered the RBR cars into oblivion. In the 2nd half of the race, when the RBR cars were fastest, Vettel hammered the rest of the field and as a result, won the race.

Vettel (and even Webber) did their job, but Alonso didn't do his.

Vettel just gets the default win cus RBR are FAR better than the rest of the field.

granted vettel is much better driver then webber, webber looks better than he is due to the car he is in, that is all.

Dutch Guy · 29 Aug 2011 at 14:01

sunama said:
The scary thing is, that I can't see what will change next year that will prevent a repeat of 2010 & 2011. And IF nothing changes, then RBR will once again be the team to beat.

No more blown diffusers?

And maybe Ferrari and/or McLaren think of something new that will help them?

3dcandy · 29 Aug 2011 at 14:12

Blown diffusers will make a difference...reading on the various places today how ****ed Pirelli are with Red Bull and Newey as they were risking a lot with pushing the tyres because of running them out of specification. This could become far more important than a first glance seems to say as I believe they will be forced to alter the camber they run...

piggy765 · 29 Aug 2011 at 14:20

Michael Schumacher really tried hard to push forward. :/ I actually wanted Michael to win.

sunama · 29 Aug 2011 at 14:22

Locky said:
Vettel just gets the default win cus RBR are FAR better than the rest of the field.

...and because he drives super fast on qualifying day.
...and because he makes few mistakes.
...and because he drives fast on race day.
...and because he rides his luck well.

If you look at yesterday's race, when Ferrari had the fastest car, Alonso (arguably the best driver in F1), just didnt make enough headway.

When RBR had the fastest car (2nd half of race), Vettel made headway and put the manners on Alonso.

Hamilton - he qualified well but made an error during the race and ended up with DNF.

Button - had a strong race but made errors in qualifying, so he had to come from behind.

So while the top drivers in the World are making errors or not driving fast enough, Vettel is delivering on all fronts. He didnt make the error which cost Hamilton a DNF. He drove fast when he needed to (unlike Alonso). He drove fast in qualifying (unlike Button).

Basically, if you take the best qualities of Hamilton, Button and Alonso, you end up with Vettel's performance at Spa 2011.

Locky · 29 Aug 2011 at 15:17

sunama said:
...and because he drives super fast on qualifying day.
...and because he makes few mistakes.
...and because he drives fast on race day.
...and because he rides his luck well.

If you look at yesterday's race, when Ferrari had the fastest car, Alonso (arguably the best driver in F1), just didnt make enough headway.

When RBR had the fastest car (2nd half of race), Vettel made headway and put the manners on Alonso.

Hamilton - he qualified well but made an error during the race and ended up with DNF.

Button - had a strong race but made errors in qualifying, so he had to come from behind.

So while the top drivers in the World are making errors or not driving fast enough, Vettel is delivering on all fronts. He didnt make the error which cost Hamilton a DNF. He drove fast when he needed to (unlike Alonso). He drove fast in qualifying (unlike Button).

Basically, if you take the best qualities of Hamilton, Button and Alonso, you end up with Vettel's performance at Spa 2011.

Don't buy it, he wins due to RBR domination, RBR turned an average driver in webber into a competitive driver.

We have seen vettel try and mix it when hes not in his default lead and fails.
Vettel has been flawless due to the car, not really having to fight as much as the others.

it is all about the car.