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F1 Crew 2011 Season Thread


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#1 vietlol

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Posted 24 March 2011 - 12:10 AM

RBR is all hype
Schu still too old
Kobawesome gonna take it to the next level
Nick will be replaced half way through by gargamel despite thrashing Petrushka

Im most interested to see if anyone will fall foul of the 107% rule and will they be let in anyway. I imagine if one of the established teams' drivers stuffs up they will be given the ok. Would HRT though? Will the rule even apply? Who knows~

Posted Image

Let the wace begin

#2 Skyliner

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Posted 24 March 2011 - 05:58 PM

Trulli: Tyre wear to create confusion


By Michele Lostia and Pablo ElizaldeWednesday, March 23rd 2011, 10:30 GMT

Posted ImageJarno Trulli believes the high degradation of Pirelli's tyres will lead to confusion in the races this season.

With at least three pitstops per driver expected in the opening races, the Italian fears the amount of stops will make the races too confusing for the spectators.

Trulli also denied drivers had asked for the tyres to degrade so fast, but he is hopeful the FIA and Pirelli will work to rectify the situation.

"Speaking with the other drivers, I've noticed that everyone bar none has had big problems with tyre degradation," Trulli wrote in his column for Repubblica newspaper.

"After just five laps the tyres lose a good part of their efficiency. The most balanced cars can reach seven laps, but after that it's a vertical drop. A driver can do 14 laps to finish his run, but with no performance.

"This is why we have complained: it's not true, as I've read in some places, that we asked for tyres that degrade so quickly. We've never asked for any such thing, also because for a driver tyre consistency is a fundamental element.

"It's what allows you to evaluate all the other set-up variables. If the tyres are inconsistent you never really understand what makes your performance better or worse.

"The tyres' high degradation will also cause great confusion in the race, with at least three pitstops for each car. That's an average of 72 pitstops per race: a hardly manageable situation. The Federation has taken notice, and so has Pirelli.

"No one wants to leave the race in the hands of such a random variable. Pitstops are random elements that are too difficult to manage, therefore I hope the situation may improve on Sunday already."


#3 Dr. Jimmmah!

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Posted 24 March 2011 - 06:30 PM

The drivers didn't ask for high degradation on the tires, we as spectators did. It was bullshit that Button could go something like 54 of 58 laps on the option tire and create a giant train of cars behind him that couldn't pass him because of the F-duct. I'm not buying into this "tires won't last 10 laps" bullshit this year until I see it, they complained about tire durability during the winter last year too, we all know how that turned out.

#4 chiuey

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Posted 25 March 2011 - 04:55 AM

The drivers didn't ask for high degradation on the tires, we as spectators did. It was bullshit that Button could go something like 54 of 58 laps on the option tire and create a giant train of cars behind him that couldn't pass him because of the F-duct. I'm not buying into this "tires won't last 10 laps" bullshit this year until I see it, they complained about tire durability during the winter last year too, we all know how that turned out.


truth! :bigthumb:

#5 Skyliner

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Posted 25 March 2011 - 02:30 PM

Corroboration from Alonso:

Alonso, who posted the third quickest time in today's practice session, said it was impossible to predict the behaviour of Pirelli's tyres for the race, which is why he is adamant that keeping an open mind about the strategy for the race is very important.


Quotes from Schmui and Rosberg:

In cold and sometimes damp conditions, Schumacher took sixth place and described the tyres as 'pleasant'."The conditions made it tricky and interesting out there, but we learned quite a bit today," he said. "In particular, the tyres that have been criticised pretty heavily in advance worked out pretty well today. It's been very pleasant today to drive the Pirellis."

Rosberg, who was 10th fastest, agreed that degradation rates had been less dramatic than predicted.

"The tyres were definitely a lot better than expected - less degradation," he said.


"For the racing that doesn't necessarily have to be a good thing, but maybe it's sensible that they don't have that much degradation."


From Vettel:

Sebastian Vettel says the new Pirelli tyres are holding up better than he expected.
The tyres lost performance very quickly in testing but Vettel was able to run a 20-lap stint without losing too much performance today.



#6 Skyliner

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Posted 25 March 2011 - 02:40 PM

So it looks like the tires' durability has improved from winter testing, but 2 stops are probably going to be needed.

#7 vietlol

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Posted 25 March 2011 - 03:54 PM

Not a huge surprise since testing is run in very cold conditions and all the races tend to be quite a bit warmer.

At least it looks like we wont get any more 1 stop bores.

#8 Dr. Jimmmah!

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Posted 25 March 2011 - 05:39 PM

Not a huge surprise since testing is run in very cold conditions and all the races tend to be quite a bit warmer.

At least it looks like we wont get any more 1 stop bores.

Hopefully the F1 train is a thing of the past :x: We'll know in less than 48hrs.

#9 kngrsll

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Posted 25 March 2011 - 05:54 PM

cannot WAIT for quali!! :bowdown:

#10 mads

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Posted 28 March 2011 - 06:40 AM



#11 yonson

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Posted 28 March 2011 - 07:09 AM

:bowdown: Mika :bowdown:

#12 Skyliner

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Posted 28 March 2011 - 06:54 PM

From Autosport:

Trulli 'shocked' by Pirellis' behaviour

Posted Image
Jarno Trulli has criticised the Pirelli tyres again after the Australian Grand Prix, suggesting that the characteristics of the new rubber changed after the final tests.

Predictions of severe tyre wear and drivers needing to pit as many as four times did not come to pass in Melbourne, with Sauber's Sergio Perez even making it through the race with just one tyre change on lap 23 of 58.

But Trulli's Lotus team had issues with tyre warm-up, leaving the Italian frustrated.

"The most important thing to be said is that every result this weekend, whether positive or negative, has a common cause: the Pirelli tyres," Trulli wrote in a column for Repubblica.

"They've left us all shocked. I don't mean they were better or worse than we had expected, I mean that they were completely different: it's as if they have been changed since the last tests in Barcelona.

"During the winter all of us, in every team, have worked with tyres that would deteriorate immediately. It was a characteristic of the tyres, and there's been some polemics too. So we had thought the problem was to make them last long enough.

"Instead here in Melbourne we've found ourselves with tyres that had no durability problems, but in exchange for that they would struggle immensely to get up to temperature."

Trulli reckons Lotus was far from the only team finding it difficult to make the Pirellis work in Australia.

"If the tyres don't get up to temperature it's impossible to get the performance," he said. "During the race only two drivers had no problem getting the tyres up to temperature: [Lewis] Hamilton and [Sebastian] Vettel, second and first.

"Everyone else, some more than others, struggled. Even [Mark] Webber. In my opinion it's the same reason why Ferrari did badly in qualifying."

He added: "Problem is, the cause of this is unknown. You just need a tiny difference in the set-up, in the balance, in the track or air temperature, and even within the same team you get opposite reactions.

"Just think of Vettel and Webber: Sebastian dominated, while Mark at one point would lose two seconds a lap from Alonso. So, this is the real challenge: to understand how to use the tyres. I think it will be one of the key points of the season."

Trulli finished 15th in Melbourne, where Lotus had occupied its 2010 position ahead of Virgin but behind the other midfield teams.

#13 Skyliner

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Posted 28 March 2011 - 07:01 PM

From Autosport:

Red Bull 'must have' KERS for Sepang


Posted Image
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner thinks his team will need to get its KERS up and running in the Malaysian Grand Prix if it wants to maintain its winning start to the season.

Reliability issues with its hybrid power system in practice for the Australian Grand Prix resulted in the team electing to disengage it for the remainder of the weekend - although its absence made little difference to the strong speed of the car.

With a short run from the start of the Albert Park grid to the first corner, pole position man Sebastian Vettel was able to hold onto his lead even without a KERS boost – and he proved dominant throughout the race to take his first win of the season.

But with there being much longer straights at the next race in Malaysia, Horner is well aware that his outfit may be put on the back foot if it cannot run KERS there.

"We plan to have it on the car for Malaysia," Horner said when asked by AUTOSPORT about the future plans for the device.

"The KERS effect here [in Australia] is less, as the run to the first corner is shorter. So that is our main exposure, which is why we didn't want you guys to tell the rest of the world that we didn't have it.

"In Malaysia there is a relatively long run to the first turn, and we will be keen to get it on the car as soon as possible."

Horner said the team had taken KERS off the car because it did not want to risk reliability issues – and it had also done so in secret because it did not want the opposition to know it could be exposed at the start.

"We tested it, we ran the system earlier in the weekend and we decided that there was a potential, albeit small chance, of a reliability issue with it so we elected not to run it this weekend," he explained. "But obviously we didn't want to tell the world – although looking at the start the guys had, it looked like we didn't need it."

Horner said he was also amused by the speculation that had run around the paddock suggesting his team had a lightweight start-only KERS system.

"You guys [the media] went off on a great little tangent, but the problem is that you have probably made Adrian [Newey] think of that one now! I can blame you lot for that then."

#14 Nacho

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Posted 28 March 2011 - 10:05 PM

:rofl: Jarno is basically the only driver left complaining about the Pirellis.

#15 DrDickAction

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Posted 28 March 2011 - 10:24 PM

:rofl: Jarno is basically the only driver left complaining about the Pirellis.

:roflw: It's like a pirelli exec banged his wife or something.

#16 Dr. Jimmmah!

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 12:18 AM

:roflw: It's like a pirelli exec banged his wife or something.

:bowrofl:

#17 Redliner

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 02:31 AM

I feel like Jarno / Rubens are really past their prime. SOmetimes I love Rubens, but sometimes (like yesterday's race) I have a hard time supporting him making rookie mistakes like that.

Are any of the older "rookies" going to get a shot at a better seat? I feel like Sutil is way past his due date in the Force India and should be moved up...

#18 Skyliner

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 03:27 AM

:rofl: Jarno is basically the only driver left complaining about the Pirellis.


He's certainly the most vocal about it. He probably has more difficulty with the tires being in a lesser car.

However, other people are having problems with the tires too. To be fair, Trulli is I *believe* the third most experienced driver on the grid, after Rubens and Schumi.

From Autosport:

Ferrari seeks solutions after Melbourne
Posted Image
Ferrari plans an investigation back at its Maranello base this week to work out why its form fell short of expectations in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The Italian outfit had appeared to be as fast as Red Bull Racing with its long-run form throughout winter testing, but it could do little to recapture that form in Melbourne, where Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished fourth and seventh.

Although it is suspected its main problem related to getting its tyres into the right operating window, which then had subsequent balance ramifications, the team says it cannot fully explain what went wrong.

"What we need to understand is why in this weekend we did not get out the performance that we were expecting from ourselves," said team principal Stefano Domenicali.

"This is the main thing we need to look at back home and make sure that in Malaysia this thing will come back.

"For sure this weekend was not the one that we wanted in terms of performance, but in the race I have to say with regards to Fernando, who was in ninth position after the first lap, that it was a really difficult situation.

"He did a fantastic race and he was able, also due to the strategy, to be faster and faster and fight for the podium. For sure if he would have had a clean start then the race would have been totally different."

Massa, who especially struggled with the tyres, thinks the problem could be track specific - after saying that the 2011 Ferrari had been better throughout the winter.

"For sure the result at the end was not exactly what we expected to have," he said. "We expected to have a quicker car in qualifying at least. We didn't see that here.

"We saw a good direction in other tracks so maybe it was something that we maybe need to understand. What didn't work like we expected to see here, and what was not the same case in other tracks? That is something we need to understand for the next race tracks."



#19 Skyliner

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 03:31 AM

Also from Autosport:

Barrichello blames tyres for collision

Posted Image
Rubens Barrichello says he was not trying to pass Nico Rosberg when he made contact with the Mercedes GP driver during the Australian Grand Prix.

Barrichello crashed into Rosberg's car in what looked like an optimistic passing move at Turn 3. Rosberg was forced to retire while Barrichello continued only to be forced out on lap 49.

The Williams driver said he was actually defending from Kamui Kobayashi when he crashed into Rosberg, and blamed the different tyre grip for the crash.

Barrichello was nonetheless encouraged by the pace of his car during the race.

"It was a tough race for us," said Barrichello. "I was pushed out a little bit at the start, but then I had a good rhythm going and was doing quite a lot of overtaking until the incident with Rosberg. I wasn't planning on overtaking him at that point, I was defending from Kobayashi.

"I think we have one tyre with grip and one with less and so we have different braking points. Rosberg braked earlier, and was already in the middle of the corner before I could stop the car. The '33' was competitive today, which is positive going into the next race."

Team-mate Pastor Maldonado also retired from his first Formula 1 race, the Venezuelan stopping on track after just 10 laps.

"We don't know exactly what happened with the car; we will have to look into the problem with our engineers," he said. "There was no warning, we just stopped and that was it for us.

"The start was great though. There were some big moments going into the first two corners, but I came through them ok. I was then getting settled into the race, everything was feeling ok in the car, I felt good and then it went. I'll now just look forward to getting back out there again in Malaysia."



#20 Skyliner

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 03:33 AM

So, if I'm right, two of the most experienced guys on the grid are having the most issues with tires. :dunno:

#21 Skyliner

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 03:35 AM

I feel like Jarno / Rubens are really past their prime. SOmetimes I love Rubens, but sometimes (like yesterday's race) I have a hard time supporting him making rookie mistakes like that.

Are any of the older "rookies" going to get a shot at a better seat? I feel like Sutil is way past his due date in the Force India and should be moved up...

I'm wondering that since they've been around so long, they're having a harder time adapting to the recent changes in the sport.

#22 MrBucket

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 03:40 AM

What has been seen can not be unseen

Posted Image

#23 DrDickAction

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 04:33 AM

So, if I'm right, two of the most experienced guys on the grid are having the most issues with tires. :dunno:

that makes sense...and both were long time bridgestone drivers even when michelins were still on the grid.

#24 DrDickAction

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 04:33 AM

What has been seen can not be unseen

Posted Image

:bowrofl:

This is spectacular.

#25 Skyliner

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Posted 29 March 2011 - 04:53 AM

What has been seen can not be unseen

Posted Image

Rubens wasn't allowed to stretch this far, wear shorts as tight, or as much jewelry.




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