148 replies to this topic

[More&Faster]

wow what a great race. button fucking OWNED

oh man when i saw alonso successfully defend that corner from hammy i started cheering....then webbo just plowed into him and i was roffling so hard

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

I think I'm now starting to come around and like Freddy.. "I don't want to know!"

Hell of a drive to hold off gaptooth.

[dgr81]

much better race. maybe we need it to rain every race

too bad hamilton and webber finished after their incident

[AErrorist]

much better race. maybe we need it to rain every race

fucking dot

Hey, FIA, if you want F1 to be more interesting, build a weather control machine!

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

fucking dot

Hey, FIA, if you want F1 to be more interesting, build a weather control machine!

Early Sepang Weekend Forecast is: "IT'S GON RAIN!"

http://www.weather.c...tenday/MYXX0031

[kngrsll]

oh my god, what a race!! ill take 3 bahrains for 1 australia....

epic drive by button, alonso drove like a champ, and hambone

[_R_]

excellent race, just wish vettel didn't get owned again

[Redliner]

I jumped up and screamed at the TV in delight when I saw Webba take out Hamilton

Great, great racing...I hope there are more races like this one. Bahrain is the sucks and I hope those Sultans of Suck realized that their race tracks are a bore and shouldn't be on the F1 calender.

[vietlol]

[_R_]

^^^^^
now THAT'S a game face...

[chiuey]

I still don't see how this no passing situation is going to get fixed....

The only reason the race was exciting was due to rain, so unless they're gonna start using sprinklers on track randomly during a race weekend, I fail to see how this season is gonna be any good in the long run.

Look at Hamilton in the closing stages, could not pass even though he had fresher tires and Fred. He tried, but I highly doubt he would have successfully managed that move, even if Webber didn't get caught up in that mess.

side note: I don't understand why Webber was reprimanded, it's a fucking racing incident, they were all racing for position, shit happens, get over it!

[_R_]

I still don't see how this no passing situation is going to get fixed....could not pass even though he had fresher tires and Fred

like i said in the other thread, these tires last too long... jenson did 50 laps on the "soft" tires... that's wayyyyyy too much... what's the point of the hard tires then? if the "soft" gives you better grip and basically race distance life, hard tires have no point...

on BBC post race coverage, whitmarsh said basically the same thing, lewis was 2 seconds a lap faster and couldn't pass, he needed to be at least 3 seconds a lap faster to give a real pass challenge...

again, like i said previously, these soft tires need to be 5-7 seconds a lap faster and only like at most 10 laps...

not saying that changing tire compounds will fix F1, but the life duration and grip levels aren't helping...

[Redliner]

Watching the race again - and I'm not so sure that it was the rain that made it interesting.

Button switched over to slicks after the safety car almost immediately after he got passed by Lewis. From there on, the dry line was there and right after, all the teams switched over to slicks as well. The key to everything was that the...and this has always been true in the past with Melbourne... but cars can actually follow in the corners for some reason. Part of it, I think is that the corners are long and big with momentum with blind corners. Unlike Bahrain which was a stop-and-go track...

Therefore, the problem is, all Tilke-designed tracks SUCK.

[chiuey]

like i said in the other thread, these tires last too long... jenson did 50 laps on the "soft" tires... that's wayyyyyy too much... what's the point of the hard tires then? if the "soft" gives you better grip and basically race distance life, hard tires have no point...

on BBC post race coverage, whitmarsh said basically the same thing, lewis was 2 seconds a lap faster and couldn't pass, he needed to be at least 3 seconds a lap faster to give a real pass challenge...

again, like i said previously, these soft tires need to be 5-7 seconds a lap faster and only like at most 10 laps...

not saying that changing tire compounds will fix F1, but the life duration and grip levels aren't helping...

I TOTALLY AGREE!

They need to make the difference in performance between fresh tires and warn out tires to be at least 5 seconds. Then there will be more incentive to use new tired, but the trade off is the 30+ seconds down the pit lane with the reduced Pit Lane Speed Limit.

[Redliner]

I TOTALLY AGREE!

They need to make the difference in performance between fresh tires and warn out tires to be at least 5 seconds. Then there will be more incentive to use new tired, but the trade off is the 30+ seconds down the pit lane with the reduced Pit Lane Speed Limit.

Although making the tires last shorter in duration is a fix, it's still the wrong fix. It's a band-aid fix, and totally artificial. The problem is we need to get aerodynamics back in check, and increase mechanical grip. With better tracks.

[_R_]

Although making the tires last shorter in duration is a fix, it's still the wrong fix. It's a band-aid fix, and totally artificial. The problem is we need to get aerodynamics back in check, and increase mechanical grip. With better tracks.

exactly...

[Nacho]

#1 way to make racing interesting: Rain

#2: Put Hamilton down the field. Pretty much all the good fights involved Hamilton, either with Webbo or the Ferrari duo.


Oh, and Jenson nursing those tires seemed like a fluke. Even though Cubicle and both Ferraris had the old tires on, the all reported them being fragile..... but then again, Hamilton claimed that his tires were already going off so who knows.

[chiuey]

Although making the tires last shorter in duration is a fix, it's still the wrong fix. It's a band-aid fix, and totally artificial. The problem is we need to get aerodynamics back in check, and increase mechanical grip. With better tracks.

we all know as long as bernie is alive, we will not get better tracks.

but if the team go thru with the cost reduction plans in place, there is logical sense to spend more on mechanical development instead of aero which costs a lot for not so much extra performance.

[MrHahn]

I think I'm now starting to come around and like Freddy.. "I don't want to know!"

Hell of a drive to hold off gaptooth.

I died a little inside

[Shi]

I died a little inside

it's true though, I was cheering for Alonso to hold off Hamilton and Webber because I know Felipe would not have been any good at blocking them

Felipe's got Alonso to thank for his 3rd place

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

Tires fix is a stopgap/bandaid, but 50 laps on a set of soft tires? The only way you're going to convince teams to change tires at that rate is to raise the pit speed limit to 180kph. The hardest compound tire should last no more than 3/4 race distance IMO.

Anyway it was clear that drivers were pushing harder this race than in Bahrain because a) it was wet, and b) they weren't at one of the tracks where the conditions (temp) were at the extremum of the design space for the cars. Even towards the end of the race cars further down the grid where both had changed to fresh tires were still passing for position.

If Malaysia is a snoozer then we can revive the 'fix F1' discussion, but we just had one of the best races in a while and this topic still won't go away. Maybe we should be giving credit here to FA for holding Ham off long enough for his tires to go to shit.

[Redliner]

Tires fix is a stopgap/bandaid, but 50 laps on a set of soft tires? The only way you're going to convince teams to change tires at that rate is to raise the pit speed limit to 180kph. The hardest compound tire should last no more than 3/4 race distance IMO.

Anyway it was clear that drivers were pushing harder this race than in Bahrain because a) it was wet, and b) they weren't at one of the tracks where the conditions (temp) were at the extremum of the design space for the cars. Even towards the end of the race cars further down the grid where both had changed to fresh tires were still passing for position.

If Malaysia is a snoozer then we can revive the 'fix F1' discussion, but we just had one of the best races in a while and this topic still won't go away. Maybe we should be giving credit here to FA for holding Ham off long enough for his tires to go to shit.

In all fairness, Australia has always been fun, rain or shine - because of the track.

Bahrain will always be a snoozer - because of the track. Maybe hte problem isn't as much car as we continually think it is, but rather the crappy tracks they run on.

MotoGP for example rarely run on tracks that are Stop n Go like the Tilke-designed tracks we have currently, and they have awesome races. Australia is one of those rare tracks in modern F1 that still has big momentum corners with enough space to make passes.

[chiuey]

In all fairness, Australia has always been fun, rain or shine - because of the track.

Bahrain will always be a snoozer - because of the track. Maybe hte problem isn't as much car as we continually think it is, but rather the crappy tracks they run on.

MotoGP for example rarely run on tracks that are Stop n Go like the Tilke-designed tracks we have currently, and they have awesome races. Australia is one of those rare tracks in modern F1 that still has big momentum corners with enough space to make passes.

Just about every track Tilke touches turns to shit. He has a fascination with long straights and sharp corners, it's like he has a one track mind, and he is convinced his calculations and designs are infallible. Maybe if he learnt to drive he could design better race tracks!

[Redliner]

Just about every track Tilke touches turns to shit. He has a fascination with long straights and sharp corners, it's like he has a one track mind, and he is convinced his calculations and designs are infallible. Maybe if he learnt to drive he could design better race tracks!

It's sad - I honestly think amateurs like us run on more fun tracks than F1 guys do...