hrd-hr30

Silverstone should be RBR and Ferraris again. Will be a good test to see how Mercedes are going with rear tyres on long fast corners... Lotus won't be anywhere unless its really hot. They're bringing the Med and Hards. With no changes to tyres

ah, so you were saying he became too overconfident before putting in that strong performance? maybe that is an epic achievement! hehe

only 5 cars finished on the lead lap though, to keep things in perspective. And that 5th one only by a matter of seconds.

Did we watch the same race? Massa passed Kimi on the last lap (iirc) to finish 8th in the Canadian GP I watched. His crash was in qualifying...

in the fence? I think you'll find he finished 8th after starting 16th and most journos have described it as a strong performance.

Vernge more likely candidate for Lotus with their French sponsor and serious need to keep those $$$ Kimi to RBR makes sense to me - seriously underpaid at Lotus on just $3m and they're not proving to be a front runnning car as the season goes on. Makes sense for RBR as well - he's good fit for thier brand/image, and they could probably get a WDC and one of the most naturally talented drivers in the field for no more than they pay their No2 now.

No way would Mark go anywhere else unless RBR don't sign him for next year. Even if he doesn't like his team mate (hardly anyone does, its a complete mis-nomer in F1), he's much better off in the best car on the grid than anywhere else. No to mention RBR pay him 10m. Ferrari pay Massa 6m and he's out performing Webber in terms of percentage of the No1 driver's points. Lotus only pay Kimi 3m. Webber not going anywhere unless he has to. Most overpaid driver in the field.

Kimi would be insane not to jump ship given the opportunity. Lotus don't have the cash to keep up development on the car, and it's a one trick pony. Really gentle on tyres and only ever in the hunt where tyre deg is a big issue. Also, he's the most underpaid driver in the field. Unless there's no seat for him in one of the other 3 top teams, there is no point staying at Lotus. I think JEV is the better option than Dan of the two TR drivers. But they really only take standout young drivers to RBR. JEV will need a few more of these recent results to make it to RBR I think. Bottas really showed his ability in that dog Williams in the wet/changeable conditions in qually though. And showed maturity and skill in the race with all the faster cars, now able to use their genuine pace in the dry race start and fly past the slow Williams. I think I'd be after him over either TR driver if you were looking for young talent.

do a fluids change as evil suggests. I don't think there's any need to change the pads and rotors unless they're worn and need doing. Any of the 280mm brake combinations work OK for track use. I've used sliding calipers (Cefiro I think) and S14 4spots both on 280mm discs, and 296 R32 GTR alloy 4spots on my 180SX and I couldn't tell any performance difference between them. I ran a 180SX at sprints for the last 3 years. For similar reasons - a cheaper car that went OK without risking the nice Supra I had before it. Rocker Stoppers: You don't need them unless you're revving over 8000rpm. Mine made the usual 200rwkw and was rev limited to about 7500. I shifted probably before 7. I didn't have rocker stoppers. It copped some limiter bashing at dirt track days. No problems. A baffled sump is needed more than rocker stoppers IMO. The cheap copy sump worked OK for me, but required some mods to fit. Oil cooler: yes - they're cheap insurance. Harness: I ran a race seat and the normal lap sash belt. My car was registered too. The only road legal harness is a 2" 4pt harness. It is difficult to mount a 4pt harness properly so that the lap belt stays over your pelvis rather than riding up over your abdomen when you tighten the shoulder straps. IMO a lap sash belt is safer than an incorrectly fitted 4pt harness. Either use a 5 or 6pt harness or just keep the lap sash IMO. I also wouldn't use a harness and race seat without a cage. One or the other is OK, but the combination of both can be a problem if you do roll over. Cage: full cage can't be legally registered under NCOP (not sure if that is adopted down there?). My cage wasn't road legal though. It was just a jap bolt-in cage that was inthe car when I bought it. I left it there because I figured it was better than nothing, and at least added some extra rigidity to the chassis. A half cage and removeable intrusion bar can be road legal, and a useful addition for both safety and rigidity. Cages are not required for CAMS sprints for road registered cars. Unregistered is a different story.

Teammate comparisons in order of the percentage of points contributed by the number two: 4. Hamilton 62 vs 6. Rosberg 47 = 75.8% points and -2 positions 13 Ricciardo 7 vs 15 Vergne 5 = 71.4% points and -2 positions 3. Alonso 78 vs 7. Massa 45 = 57.7% points and -4 positions 8. Di Resta 28 vs 11 Sutil 16 = 57.1% points and -3 positions 1. Vettel 105 vs 5.Webber 57 = 53.3% points and -4positions 10 Button 25 vs 12 Perez 12 = 48% ponts and -2 positions 2. Kimi 86 vs 9. Grosjean 26 = 30.2% points and -7 positions Massa ranks 3rd overall and best of the big 4 teams other than Rosberg at Mercedes. All I can say is Lotus must be desperate for the money Grosjean has behind him!

I think that was one of those delayed radio transmissions. He already had hit him by the time it got aired!

no change to tyres for this GP.

If Merc keep improving they will be in the WDC battle. Montreal doesn't really have any long corners to load up the rear tyres and overheat them. A few short sharp fast chicanes, some slow hairpins and high speed straights. The Mercs could be mixing it up the pointy end again this weekend...

have a read of this article before basing your helmet decision on "more expensive = better" http://www.westcoastweasels.com/archives/PDF/Blowing_the_Lid_Off.pdf

hmm, yeah the Canada spec tyres weren't "current" at the time of the test were they? Canada tyre changes have now been postponed to Silverstone/British GP, waiting on the outcome from this by the FIA. My money is that the FIA will say Mercedes could have gained an advantage on those new updated tyres from this test, and rule that the tyres can't be changed to ensure no-one is disadvantaged.

link to video or results for that too please

got a video or link to the results Stuart? Car: 180SX Weight: 1360kg incl driver Power: 200rwkw (claimed by previous owner when i bought it) Aero: none Box: stock H Pattern diff : 4.3 shimmed viscous LSD Tyres: Federal FZ201 Lakeside: 205.5km/h Time: 59.6 (05/04/2012 on Natsoft and QR's 2012 midweek sprint results)

big speeds Noddy! obviously got alot more power now than whenever we've been on the track together!

Didn't Pirelli say it wasn't on the current tyres, and that Mercedes did not know what tyre they were on at any time? Tthey've also said right from the start that it was both current Mercedes drivers that did the testing - Rosberg and Hamilton.

you could actually see the front left bouncing around a bit before the 2nd crash. probably clipped a wall somewhere earlier and something broke.

lol if Kimi didn't think Perez was going up the inside, why was he defending that way so hard? and Perez had telegraphed that move with another attempt there not long before, remember... It wasn't very Kimi-like at all. He normally plays the percentage game, but he mentioned something about a previous race where Perez ran him off the track, so that's obviously a factor here. And was on the radio earlier just giving Perez a spray for being an idiot. I think Kimi let it get personal. This was much more Senna-esque than Kimi-like. Only difference is that Senna would have actually punched him in the face after the race rather than just saying it. Senna was known for introducing himself like that to new guys who had the audacity to pass him. lol another thing that didn't make it to the movie of old St Senna... /rant

Overheated brakes was the reason for Perez's retirement, and the cause of his issues in the last two braking areas immediately before stopping. Seems fairly obvious... That had nothing to do with the Kimi incident. And that was the most reasonable of your comments about the crash and what Perez said. Won't bother addressing the rest.

The racing line is the other side of the track. The Merc is coming from the racing line in this first pic. And this is where Kimi starts squeezing Perez. Once Perez was going down the inside he was braking on the limit - the laws of physics says he can't "slot back in". To do that he would need to brake harder than he already is, which is simply not possible. There were a couple of little pinches of lock-ups from the fronts as it was. Also added an in-car pic showing Kimi "somewhat" closing the door. Not sure how narrow he thinks a McLaren is, but he got it wrong. Perez wasn't in far enough to claim the corner, but he is entitled to room on the straight! All Kimi had to do was leave room there and turn-in to make the apex at the right hand part of the chicane and he keeps his position. If Perez hits him while cornering like that it would be Perez's fault. When Kimi runs him into the wall, quite obviously before the corner, there is nothing Perez can do to avoid it.

Massa's crash was a technical failure, not a driver error... that's nowhere near the racing line! Once he's committed, he can't stop any harder. Leaving no room for a car between you and the wall is only going to end in a collision. Perez can't evaporate into thin air. You can't run somone off the road in a braking area if there is an overlap.