2011 F1 Thread

[gts-4 dreamer]

Looked a hell of allot like maclaren decided to turn up the number 2's engine after the number 1 crashed out. I swear the team orders extend to turning up or down the engy remotely of their cars.

[ctjet]

now that top gear pointed it out, this anthem does drag on and on

[gts-4 dreamer]

Take your A-D-D meds bro it was half a minute.

[Angus Smart]

Hahaha if you can take a look out for Eddie Jordan vs Martin Whitmarsh at the end..

[Angus Smart]

umm Umm Ummm! happy webber today

[ctjet]

35 'umms' 'arrs' or 'errs' in... a minute?

well done old boy

[wolverine]

Contagious? Button is doing it too.

[ctjet]

lol

they all started doing it towards the end!!

look like 'so umm' is the new 'for sure'

[ctjet]

Mugello set to host 2012 in-season test

and the crazyness continues... worst choice ever

[Tangles]

"No, not santas' balls!"

Lol sorry, South park is on.

[N1GTR]

special mention to Kobayashi

with a busted frint wing, busted rear wing end plate STILL on the podium

Tops effort from him - that wing looked well stuffed at the end - lucky it didnt collapse like the T Rosso's did earlier

[sh@un]

special mention to Kobayashi

for being the token useless asian?

[Roy]

Was interesting to hear the BBC commentary stand up for Hamilton. I thought it was his own doing as plenty of people hang in around the outside and gain position at that part of the circuit.

Good race, will have to wait another few weeks to see if Webber can get a race right

[tweety bird]

ok

pf1

hamilton and ,Kobayashi

(hamilton)

In the aftermath of the accident, Hamilton told BBC Sport "as far as I was concerned I was ahead of whoever it was I was racing and then I just got hit by them and that was my race over".

Kobayashi, meanwhile, claimed the McLaren moved into him, saying "after he overtook me it was not my intention to get my position back, so I stayed on my line and didn't expect him to move over."

Hamilton, though, has decided to change his account of the incident after watching the replays.

Via his Twitter account, Hamilton said: "After watching the replay, I realize it was my fault today 100%. I didn't give Kobayashi enough room though I thought in (sic) was past.

"Apologies to Kamui and to my team. The team deserves better from me. Best wishes, Lewis."

(Kobayashi)

"Regarding the accident with Lewis Hamilton, which happened when I was running in fourth, I knew perfectly well he was faster than me so had no reason to fight with him," he said.

"After he overtook me it was not my intention to get my position back, so I stayed on my line and didn't expect him to move over."

As for the rest of his Belgian GP, the Sauber driver says he was disappointed to have finished outside the points.

"Of course I expected to score some points today. My start was good and I had a couple of nice fights.

"On the straights I was actually slower than expected, but I don't know yet why this was. It was also hard to survive with the soft tyres and I was under pressure from Vitaly Petrov.

"When I pitted on the second lap behind the Safety Car I lost an awful lot of positions. Anyway, the long stint on the medium tyres in the end worked well, but then I was too far away from the points.

(Maldonado has somethink to say)

"I think maybe we both made a mistake yesterday, and I am a bit disappointed that only I got a penalty and not him," the Williams driver told BBC Sport. "But anyway that's racing, we need to look forward. That's past. The only bad thing is that

he did the same today, so I think he needs to be more focused on his race and not to do that movement."

"For sure I think we should have slowed down after Turn 1," Maldonado added. "But in the end I think we lost our concentration you know and we were fighting. It was a bad thing. That's racing, that's Formula 1, we need to look forward.

"I think Lewis is a really talented driver, a really good friend, so we need to be more focused and respect each other more."

that last bit.

Edited August 29, 2011 by tweety bird

[ctjet]

the grid girls were a massive let down, i expected more from that part of the world

[tweety bird]

post race drivers excuses

pf1

Bruno Senna: "Unfortunately I made a mistake in the first corner, which cost me the chance of really causing a stir at the top end for the remainder of the race. So, firstly I would like to say sorry to Jaime (Alguersuari) for that. I made a mistake in the braking area, so that meant I slipped back and couldn't compete where I wanted to; this left me quite lonely at the back for a while! However, once I'd paid the price with the drive through penalty I was able to start making some progress and my race pace was actually quite strong, so I kept pushing and was pleased with how I drove from then on. Obviously I would like to have finished higher, considering my grid position, but I've now got a good pace to build on and take me through to Monza, which is another of my favourite tracks. We'll sit down and learn where we can improve but the foundations are there."

Kamui Kobayashi: "Of course I expected to score some points today. My start was good and I had a couple of nice fights. On the straights I was actually slower than expected, but I don't know yet why this was. It was also hard to survive with the soft tyres and I was under pressure from Vitaly Petrov. Regarding the accident with Lewis Hamilton, which happened when I was running in fourth, I knew perfectly well he was faster than me so had no reason to fight with him. After he overtook me it was not my intention to get my position back, so I stayed on my line and didn't expect him to move over. When I pitted on the second lap behind the Safety Car I lost an awful lot of positions. Anyway, the long stint on the medium tyres in the end worked well, but then I was too far away from the points."

Daniel Ricciardo: "I can't be fully satisfied because it has been a short race for me but at least the time I was out there was really positive. I made a good start and then benefited from some incidents ahead but also made the right choice which let me pick up a few spots. The pace was quite good, a few of the faster cars ended up coming back through but we let them go without losing much time with our direct rivals. It was looking quite good ahead of the Virgins and Lotus. Unfortunately we had a problem with the rear which made us end the race prematurely. But there is no doubt that there are some positives to take. It would have been nice to finish but we've always got next time. From my side I'm happy with how the race was going and we will try to build on it for the next Grand Prix in Monza."

Jaime Alguersuari: "I don't want to speak badly about any other driver as it's not my style, but I think the situation was quite clear to everyone. Going into the hairpin after the start, I was in the middle with Senna on my inside and Fernando on my outside and Senna completely missed his braking point and hit me which pushed me into the path of the Ferrari. However, there are many positive things we can take out of this weekend, as we clearly had a car capable of scoring many points today, which is a tribute to all the hard work of the team. I feel sorry for the guys, because starting sixth on the grid is not an everyday occurrence for us. Now I am looking forward to the next race in Monza, as I see no reason why we cannot be competitive there and score more points."

Mark Webber: "The lights went out and I got anti-stall at the start - I don't know whether it was due to the start being uphill or not. We were worried about the tyres going into the race and had a lot of meetings this morning. In the end, the right decisions were made and the team reacted incredibly well and did some good research overnight to work out how we could best get through the race. We did a lot of damage to the tyres in qualifying and had to stop pretty early to protect ourselves from any issues from the tyre which put us out of position. We picked some people off, but in terms of the result I was after I was frustrated at that point. Then the safety car came out. The team wanted me to pit, but when I got the instructions of what to do in the pit lane I was the wrong side of the pit wall - I never heard the call to come in. I was worried, but we kept going and the car behaved well. I drove well from then on and we got a good result in what was one of the team's best ever one-two finishes. It was a great weekend for the team and they deserve this result."

Jenson Button: "It wasn't as simple as just going from 13th to third today. At the start, somebody hit me at the rear and damaged a rear-wing endplate. At the exit of Turn One, there was debris everywhere, and somebody else's front wing went through my front wing and sliced my right-side mirror off. I also had to make an early pitstop, so it was hardly perfect! The team had a look at the data and saw that the damage was manageable, so I held on for a few more laps in order to make the strategy work. Then, after that, I drove flat-out to the end of the race. I think everybody had an issue with the front-left tyre, so it was tricky to know when to push. But my pace was pretty good considering the damage we had, and I really enjoyed attacking and passing people. Our car is the best it's been all year, and I feel better than I ever have in Formula 1. We just need to stop the little mistakes from happening so that we can win even more races. Hopefully, we can go out and fight for the win in Monza."

Lewis Hamilton: "I was in a good position and I'd already got past one of the Ferraris, but then I was hit by Kamui [Kobayashi]. I don't really know what happened, but I hit the wall pretty hard and my race was immediately over. I was ahead, so I don't know why I got hit. There have been quite a few races this year where we've not finished, and this is another - but that's motor racing. At least our pace was reasonably good this weekend, so let's hope we can win more races in the remainder of the season."

Michael Schumacher: "I think more than fifth place would not have been possible today but making up 19 places was a good feeling. With all my family, friends and fans here, it was an extra motivation, and I would like to thank all of them for their support. They saw an exciting race with a great strategy from our team. So all in all, for me, there was a lot of emotion and a lot of overtaking today. At the beginning I was a bit afraid that some of the flying parts might hit and damage my car, but I was lucky that nothing happened. After that, I had big fun hunting and making my way forward."

Edited August 29, 2011 by tweety bird

[tweety bird]

mark webber

pf1

"My start was shocking - I dropped lever and the car stalled, so that was disappointing," he said.

"It put me on the back foot knowing we would stop early to get rid of the set of tyres. The team handled things really well. It was not an easy grand prix for the crew on the pit wall. But it was a good result and I enjoyed the race."

Webber had a couple of close shaves when he was battling Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

"Most of the race was charged with frustration from the start," he said. "We were obviously very, very close through Eau Rouge, I used some KERS, got a tow and thought I might have a chance.

"We didn't give much easy, it was a good battle. It was rewarding that it worked okay, but it takes two guys to get it right. You can do it with Fernando - he is a world class guy and knows when enough is enough."

The 35-year-old added that the result was one of the best for Red Bull following some pre-race concerns. Several teams wanted to use fresh rubbers during the first stint due to blistering problems in qualifying, but the request was denied.

Red Bull were forced to pit both Webber and Vettel very early due to the problems, but still managed to claim a 1-2.

"The team result today was probably one of our best results ever as a team," he said. "It was stressful last night, and a stressful morning, handled very well - putting drivers right in the discussions to understand how we can get through the grand prix as safely as possible, us

giving them feedback on how tyres looked."

[tweety bird]

kubica undergoes successful final surgery

sooo do you want me to post bikini pics of Jenson Buttons mrs?

Edited August 29, 2011 by tweety bird

[PHaT MR30]

Man it really shows just how slow all the other teams are when Button can pit for a new wing and do the entire race with a damaged rear end plate and schumi last to 5th.

Seriously who would want to drive for any of these teams?

[Beer Baron]

all I can say is how fkign good was webber on alonso? pass of the year! loved it. he just went, 'fk this, going round the outside at aeu rouge, just close my eyes, hold my breath and hope alonso doesn't want to die right now'. it was epic.

oh and schumi showed an old style drive where he used to be able to go from back of the grid to win races. he didn't win but 24th to 5th was pretty awesome given his car is not amongst the best 6 cars on the grid (2 X RBR, 2 X Mac, 2 X Fez). pretty good drive to celebrate his 20 years in F1 with a drive that really proved he's not as far over the hill as people might think.