official F1 World Championship 2011 Thread

[Zain Adeel]

thanks for that :)

and only the person behind another can use it just to get closer or to overtake.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Yup

[JoeC]

i didnt understand the 1.5sec faster rule that applies if you have to overtake.. is that the lap time difference or the difference between you and the car behind you at the end of that lap??

He's actually saying that as a general rule of thumb, if you're not around 1.5s faster per lap on raw pace (no KERS, no DRS, etc) then you'll have trouble making an overtake stick. There's no official rule, it's just a guideline for when you can and when you can't overtake successfully.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Teams hail success of 2011 rule changes

Formula 1's new look for 2011 - with the introduction of moveable rear wings, the return to KERS and the switch to Pirelli ? has helped make the spectacle much better, claim leading figures from within the sport.

With overtaking now easier for drivers, and Pirelli's aggressive rubber producing multi-stop races, the evidence from the first two events of the year suggests more exciting racing.

And although there have been some suggestions that the dramatically increased number of stops makes the races more complicated to follow, those within the sport think that the entertainment level has been ramped up in 2011.

Renault team principal Eric Boullier told AUTOSPORT: "I think it is good. I think if you are a proper racer, and I do consider I am one, I like it when you have both cars reaching the limit, touching a little even the sidepods.

"The DRS was a cost-effective thing to put in place and on some layouts it will not work, like Australia, but when you have a straight long enough like Malaysia or China it will work and it is good."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "I suspect when you look back at Malaysia, it wasn't a bad race and I think the tyre situation and cars on the circuit preserving tyres in different stages of tyre degradation adds to the spectacle.

"Pirelli has had to come into the sport with very little testing, and we have to congratulate them on what they have done. Individual drivers can complain about individual tyre sets but the fact is, looking at the sport, we have had tyres that are safe and produced a bit of a challenge to the teams and are better for the spectacle."

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner reckons the new rules were making life much harder for the teams ? thanks to the strategy permutations ? and that opened up areas of fresh interest for fans.

"It is certainly complicated on the pit wall," he said. "It would be an air traffic controller's nightmare if you were tuned into the strategy channel - because you are trying to look at where you are going to emerge, what the degradation is, what tyre you should be using with two cars. The work rate is colossal.

"It does add an exciting dimension to the race, and I think it added another element to the race."

When asked if he felt the races were now too complicated to follow, he said: "I am not the right person to comment on that because you become so immersed in your own race that you do not look at the race as a whole.

"I would have to rewatch the race to see how it looked, but you got people racing each other. You have Alonso and Hamilton racing wheel to wheel, you have Mark managing to have a bad first lap and coming back through. So that has to be a positive for F1 in what could have otherwise been quite a static race.

"I think it is positive and I think it will take a few races for a pattern to emerge."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali added: "From the spectacular point of view, people enjoy seeing the wing opening/closing and the drivers getting closer and then fighting. It is a fact and we have to live with it.

"But for sure it is not easy for the public to understand what is going on because it is also difficult for the team, but that is the way it is. I think it is part of the game of this year, we need to consider that and we don't have to take an excuse from this point."

Fernando Alonso said the races were also more exciting from the driving point of view ? and that the new-look F1 meant that drivers had to push all the time in the races.

"In one part of the race I was second, or third ? I overtook Jenson, and then in a different part of the race Jenson was even in front of Lewis, and I was fighting Webber ? who was doing four stops.

"Webber was doing four stops, so it is not so clear or so easy to know what is happening. You lose visual contact with them, and you don't know any more which strategy they are doing.

"So you try to do your own race, knowing sometimes you are second or third, but it doesn't mean you are second or third in the real race because, if you are on a different strategy in the last stint, you can find yourself fifth or sixth.

"So you need to keep pushing, and you need to keep saving the tyres as well. The race is very long. Last year after the first pit stop the race was more or less over, this year you don't know anything until the last four or five laps and that is interesting."

Source: Autosport

[what]

It's better now that following the racing is more complicated. It's great that you have can easily have 8 contenders for the lead at any one time. If we come to a head like last season where there were five drivers in the hunt for the championship, the final few races could be the best ever. Certainly Malaysia was one of the most exciting dry races I've ever seen.

Thank god BBC coverage doesn't have adverts.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Vettel tops first Chinese GP practice

Sebastian Vettel continued with his strong start to the season by topping the times in the opening practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The championship leader, the winner of the first two races of the season, was the only man to lap the Shanghai circuit in less than 99 seconds, going fastest with a 1m38.739s.

Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber completed a solid start to the weekend for the team, the Australian finishing in second, albeit over half a second behind Vettel.

The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were third and fourth, but a massive two seconds behind the world champion.

Button had KERS issues during the session, the Briton's engineer reporting the system was overheating about the one-hour mark.

Nick Heidfeld completed the top five ahead of Felipe Massa in the fastest of the Ferraris.

Heidfeld, however, endured a disappointing opening session, the German crashing his Renault at Turn 10 with less than 30 minutes remaining after losing control of his car when bouncing off the kerbs. The car suffered damaged to the front and Heidfeld was unable to continue after just five laps.

Ferrari was carrying out a set of aerodynamic tests, with Fernando Alonso, who completed his first timed lap with less than 20 minutes to go, carrying out constant velocity runs and the Italian cars carrying 'flo-viz' paint on their front wings.

The Spanish driver was down in 12th.

The first session of the weekend, on a circuit covered by smog, had the usual slow start, with most drivers taking to the track to complete installation laps only.

Narain Karthikeyan was the first man to set a time, the Hispania driver completing the first full lap some 20 minutes into the session. He was quickly outpaced by Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, the Japanese going three seconds quicker in his first attempt.

McLaren's drivers Button and Hamilton were next to move to the top of the times, with the latter being the first man to lap in the 1m41s bracket. His team-mate was quick to better that and take the place with a lap of 1m41.092s.

Hamilton moved into the 1m40s after that, but it was Webber who went quickest just moments later, the Australian's 1m40.692s lap enough to outpace his rival by two tenths. He then made a further improvement, by over sixth tenths of a second, to leave himself on the verge of the 1m39s.

Vettel shot to the top of times after some 45 minutes, the world champion moving breaking the 100-second barrier with a 1m39.540s.

With 35 minutes left, the Red Bull driver made a massive improvement, shedding eight tenths from his best time. Webber closed the gap a few minutes later, but still over half a second of Vettel's pace.

Luiz Razia was back at the wheel of the Lotus car, replacing Italian Jarno Trulli for the opening session of the weekend. The Brazilian, however, did not enjoy a trouble-free run, damaging his car's front wing and right front tyre at the 40-minute mark, leaving Trulli unimpressed, the Italian gesticulating on television after the incident.

Force India's Paul di Resta was also in trouble when he spun his car with some 25 minutes left. Fortunately for him, he didn't hit anything and managed to continue.

Another man to have a low-key start to the weekend was Timo Glock, was spent the majority of the session in his Virgin garage, setting a time for the first time with less than 10 minutes left.

Rookie Pastor Maldonado finished his day some 12 minutes ahead of time after spinning his Williams at Turn 5, his car stopping on top of the kerbs.

Tonio Liuzzi also stopped on track at the end of the session with some sort of mechanical problem in his Hispania car.

Pos  Driver                Team                   Time                Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m38.739s		23
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m39.354s   + 0.615   27
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m40.845s   + 2.106   21
 4.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m40.940s   + 2.201   22
 5.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault                1m40.987s   + 2.248   5
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m41.046s   + 2.307   25
 7.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m41.189s   + 2.450   20
 8.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth      1m41.222s   + 2.483   20
 9.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                1m41.231s   + 2.492   16
10.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.328s   + 2.589   21
11.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m41.361s   + 2.622   23
12.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m41.434s   + 2.695   15
13.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1m41.494s   + 2.755   20
14.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault          1m41.579s   + 2.840   13
15.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m41.610s   + 2.871   18
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.752s   + 3.013   20
17.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1m41.939s   + 3.200   25
18.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m42.301s   + 3.562   23
19.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m43.792s   + 5.053   20
20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1m44.089s   + 5.350   20
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth           1m44.359s   + 5.620   18
22.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth        1m44.438s   + 5.699   11
23.  Luiz Razia            Lotus-Renault          1m44.542s   + 5.803    9
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m45.019s   + 6.280   23

All Timing Unofficial

Source: Autosport

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Vettel fastest again in China practice

Sebastian Vettel went fastest in the second practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver leaving little doubt he remains the favourite for the Shanghai race.

Vettel, who was also quickest in the morning, posted a best time of 1m37.688s, but this time he was followed closely by the McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton less than three tenths behind the world champion.

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher showed promising form in the Mercedes, the Germans winding up fourth and fifth - less than half a second off the pace.

Felipe Massa was again the fastest Ferrari driver with the sixth quickest time.

Team-mate Fernando Alonso finished in 14th position having been unable to do much running due a hydraulic problem in his Ferrari. The Spaniard managed to return to action late in the session, completing a run with soft tyres but without using his DRS.

Hamilton and Button showed they had pace in store after their discreet showing in FP1, both going quicker right away at the start of the second session. They exchanged positions a few times before Button moved to the top with a 1m39.431s just 10 minutes into the session.

Ten minutes later it was Rosberg moving to the top of the times, becoming the second man alongside Vettel to lap in the 1m38s. Williams's Pastor Maldonado was also among the frontrunners at the start of the session after deciding to use the softer tyre compound, the Venezuelan the first man to do so.

Massa went quickest around the 30-minute mark also using soft tyres, the Brazilian posting the best time of the weekend until that moment - 1m38.570s.

Rosberg regained the top spot minutes later with his maiden run with the soft tyres, the Mercedes driver the first man to move into the 1m37s.

Team-mate Schumacher jumped to second place - also with a run on softs - when nearing the one-hour mark, the seven-time champion less than two tenths behind Rosberg.

A couple of minutes later, Hamilton retook first place, with Button going second as the McLaren duo tried the soft tyres for the first time. The former reported after his flying lap that his tyres were "finished".

McLaren's domination did not last long however, with Vettel flying to the top spot with a 1m37.688s just a moment later.

Nick Heidfeld had another difficult session following his crash in the morning, the German making contact with the barrier again after skidding off track at Turn 12.

He managed to keep the engine going and returned to the track with no front wing, but was forced to stop before reaching the pits. He was later pushed back into the pits by his mechanics and the German could return to action for the last 25 minutes.

Force India's Paul di Resta also had a difficult afternoon, the Briton's car affected by a fuel pressure problem that meant he was unable to complete any running.

HRT's Tonio Liuzzi completed just one timed lap after succumbing to a car problem in the first session. He managed to join the track at the very end, but still outpaced the Virgin cars.

Virgin driver Timo Glock was hit by problems again, and although he managed more running than in the morning, the German still lost valuable time in the pits and finished his session early.

Pos  Driver                Team                   Time                Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m37.688s            34
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m37.854s  +	0.166  22
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m37.935s  +	0.247  31
 4.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m37.943s  +	0.255  34
 5.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m38.105s  +	0.417  29
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m38.507s  +	0.819  36
 7.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m38.735s  +	1.047  35
 8.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault                1m38.805s  +	1.117  26
 9.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                1m38.859s  +	1.171  31
10.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m39.327s  +	1.639  33
11.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m39.538s  +	1.850  33
12.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth      1m39.667s  +	1.979  37
13.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m39.771s  +	2.083  18
14.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m39.779s  +	2.091  17
15.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m39.828s  +	2.140  25
16.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1m39.925s  +	2.237  32
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m39.953s  +	2.265  30
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault          1m40.476s  +	2.788  30
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault          1m41.482s  +	3.794  32
20.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m42.902s  +	5.214  25
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth           1m43.850s  +	6.162   3
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1m44.008s  +	6.320  35
23.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth        1m44.747s  +	7.059  12

All Timing Unofficial

Source: Autosport

[TheLegendOfMart]

I hate Alonso so much he is such an aggressive arrogant ****. I was watching P2 and he come flying up the back of Karthikeyan and got annoyed that he was being held up so he pulled up beside the HRT and tried to squeeze it towards the edge of the track then cut in front of him missing the HRT by millimeters and sped off, he thinks he is special for some reason and i wanted the HRT to smash him off the track he makes me rage so much.

[Kerm]

^That's why the final race last season was so sweet. :p

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[JoeC]

Hugely disappointing for Webber, I feel a bit sorry for him, he looked on the verge of tears in his post-qually interview.

Really great to see JB and LH up there again, and I'm very impressed with Mercedes (read: Rosberg). Great session by di Resta on his birthday and nice to see HRT within the 107% again, even if they are still quite a way off Virgin's pace.

[i11usive]

We need one of the McLarens to win tomorrow to even things up a bit. It'll be a shame for Vettel to storm further into the lead and leave the rest of the pack squabbling for 2nd place in the Championship. I think the McLarens are fast and JB/LH can take it to him. Personally, I'd like to see Hamilton pick this one up - he's a class driver .. better than Button in some ways.

Should be a good race though.

[simonlang]

surprise, surprise, vettel is on pole :p

i dont really know what happen tomorrow but somehow i expect vettel to run away with this one and after 10 laps the gap will be big ennough for him to turn off kers.

lets see what mclaren can do, maybe they can send button on a 2 stopper and hami on a 3 stopper to try to put pressure on redbull but for this they would need more pace imho.

ferrari was dead lucky today that webber and schumacher underperformed and renault shot themselves in the foot BIG time. otherwise it would have meant p9 and p10 for ferrari - imagine that! no matter what they are saying they seem to go backwards.

now i cant wait for the start, as massa usually gains at least 2 positions and alonso starts like an old granny so there is a lot of potential action in it. :D

any weather forecasts for tomorrow? chance of rain, maybe? :cool:

[chicken-royal]

That was a fun qualifying to watch, especially Q2. Should be a good race tomorrow! The McLarens should be interesting to watch how the difference in the option tyres plays out. Would be good to see Webber climb up the pack too.

[Mr. Gibs]

Wow lol, absolutely amazing driving from Webber. 18th -> 3rd

Congrats to Hamilton for winning. Will be interesting to see what happens to Ferrari since Massa crossed the pit line and Alsonso used his DRS at the wrong part of the lap.

[ahmz]

Amazing race! Great drives by Hamilton, Vettel & Webber. Pirelli deliver big-time. Solid drive by Massa too!

How about Button in the pits :laugh:

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Excellent race all in all. The 2011 rules are really working out nicely.

Congratulations to McLaren, they did a great job.

[.mcman]

Amazing! So amazing I want to cry. :woot: If only Jenson was able to keep his third place... Anyway - fantastic race!

[Zoom7000]

Yeah, I was disappointed Jenson just didn't have the grip to hold the 3rd place, but what a race and hats off to Webber, what a drive! Brilliant! Who said there wasn't overtaking in F1? As Coulthard said, Thank you Perrelli!

[MightyJordan]

If only Jenson was able to keep his third place...

Yes, if only... but Webber was on fresher tyres, so he was bound to get past sooner or later. Oh well, at least another McLaren won the race. :)

That was an amazing finish to an amazing race. :) Looks like 2011 is gonna be a better season than 2009.

And to end on a Sniff Petrol tweet...

"China GP result: 1. Sh*t! I'm first! 2. Sh*t! I'm not first! 3. Sh*t! I'm not last!" :laugh:

[SoyoS]

Best race of the season! Got a huge grin on my face, so happy for Hamilton! :woot:

[simonlang]

well...... wow ... but WHAT WAS THAT?! a real RACE. not seen something like this in ages. :cool:

absolutely amazing job by PIRELLI. these tires are so much better than the boring japanese rubber from last year.

today we clearly could see that 3 stops are the way to go which helped webber a lot.

you just cant compliment mclaren ennough for what they have achieved since winter testing.

in this race tires came and went off for everyone on different time. exciting. sometimes we had mercedes as the fastest car, then mclaren, then redbull. brilliant and exciting.

and we ve seen another thing. the better drivers in each team came out on top. hami beat button, vettel beat webber and massa beat alonso.

especially at ferrari (we know alonso is a sore loser since 2007) this will be very VERY interesting now. seen nicolas todt in the ferrari pits this weekend which means there is SOMETHING going on with massas contract. he is extended till end of 2012 but maybe some adjustments were done (like he finally gets equal threatment to alonso) or they put pressure on ferrari now as i think webber is all but save at redbull for next year so a cockpit could be open there.

and its now the critical phase where massas brain injuries from nearly 2 years ago start to lose the last bit of negative effects (doctors spoke about 2 years it will last).

the last 2 weekens he has beaten alonso on merit, today he even destroyed him and p6 and p7 only tells part of the picture - we all seen massa on p2 for long time closing in on the leading vettel while alonso was thrundling arround p8 or 9 unable to pass the slower mercedes car of michael schumacher. :rofl:

so that was more the picture of how it looks like at ferrari now.

massa didnt cross the white line tho, that was not the pit exit line, it was another white line just running same direction as the pit exit line. no investigation was started, so nothing will happen - i hope.

i heard about alonso cheating with his drs too and was surprised but havent seen any pictures or videos. so - i dont know! would he be able to do such things? yes, definitely. i guess he seen massa running away in this race and him being unable to pass schumacher and started to panic. cheating is nothing new to him.

but then i also know that ferrari had drs failure in malaysia so the system could have simply gone wrong.

lets wait and see on this one.

now i ll have a snack then i ll rewatch the race. there was SO much action in it .- impossible to get all that at the first time.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Oh dear poor Jenson, 4th place not so bad all things considering. Webber played a blinder from 18th to 3rd what a pro. Very happy for Hamilton you can see how frustrated he gets when the car just isnt there for him I dont think anyone could have predicted a Hamilton win after the problems he had before even getting to the grid.

[san.W10]

best race in years !!! :laugh:

Lewis was awesome

MS was awesome too :devil:

23 cars finished :o

Cheater cocklonso using DRS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at0GSTZeEs4

[TheLegendOfMart]

I beg to differ, there is NO reason he would try to be using DRS outside of the designated zone, do you think he keeps pressing the button just in case the rear wing opens? Even if he did the stewards are always watching do you really think someone would get away with cheating like that?

As much as i hate Alonso it must have just been a software/mechanical glitch.