Reply With Quotethe Ferrari is just a pig of a car to drive, would not shock me if the team had a reshuffle ordered from Maranello soon...
Kimi, come on... it is his first race back in a couple of years....
Grosjean though.... where the hell did he come from?
Wow, a McLaren front row! Mercedes/Schumi and Lotus/Grosjean looking good. Ferrari and Kimi, just WTF!?
the Ferrari is just a pig of a car to drive, would not shock me if the team had a reshuffle ordered from Maranello soon...
Kimi, come on... it is his first race back in a couple of years....
Grosjean though.... where the hell did he come from?
Lotus have had the pace from the moment the first wheels turned in testing. I'll put money on Kimi to finish ahead of Grosjean in a few hours though. Kubica must be itching to get back now he has seen the raw pace. If we can extrapolate anything from just this one qually, it is that Lotus-Renault have put together a package that right now can fight for a championship. Very poor record of in-season development though, and the champions of that are already quicker than them. But a fast car, Kimi, Kubica...very interesting.
Ferrari look like they've sped up their progress to return to their natural stomping ground. Good.
Nico, choked it, big time. Schumi podium anyone? It's definitely on.
Hella lap first out the box for Lewis, left wondering how much faster he could have gone if he needed to. Tidy effort from Jenson.
Like how the pecking order seems to be shaking out so far.
$10 that stepped noses will drop out of fashion come Barcelona.
Most interesting bet at the moment seems to be whether or not Lotus can challenge McLaren for the King of Poor Strategy crown. 1-0 Lotus thus far.
the thing about the stepped noses is that all the teams that have them have their tub sat higher than the Macca tub, so to revert to the sloped nose, they'd have to completely rebuild the car.... and, AFAIK, they aren't allowed to re design the tub in season
The whiny pair in the Red Cars nowhere to be seen, Red Bull off the pace. Pretty happy for once!
Lotus, WTF are you doing?
These people completely messed up Kimi's quali. They gave him just 1 fast lap with every other car in the circuit and they expect everything to go perfectly? First, Kimi was almost blocked by Maldonado and then slips in one of the turns in sector 3 --> out of time and P18. You really, REALLY should have put him out on the track earlier. At least the car is ready for him.
Ferrari, you are screwed.
THe only people (the majority I admit) surprised with Grosjean are those who saw him 2-3 years ago only when Renault team hit the bottom.Originally Posted by SDL
The few people who followed him in GP2 last year know he learned a lot since, and can achieve very high performances.
Regarding Kimi, let's give him a break, he's been out of F1 for a bit... I am sure at the next race he'll qualify in top 10.
One has to wonder (once again) where Kubica would be today in this Lotus... hmm
And it looks like we are headed for one awesome season, with the Red Bull not dominating outrageously anymore !!!The gap between cars is quite small, season is very open
Wait, you honestly believe that Kimi being 18th has anything to do with his driving skills?THe only people (the majority I admit) surprised with Grosjean are those who saw him 2-3 years ago only when Renault team hit the bottom.
The few people who followed him in GP2 last year know he learned a lot since, and can achieve very high performances.
Regarding Kimi, let's give him a break, he's been out of F1 for a bit... I am sure at the next race he'll qualify in top 10.
One has to wonder (once again) where Kubica would be today in this Lotus... hmm
And it looks like we are headed for one awesome season, with the Red Bull not dominating outrageously anymore !!!
If Lotus race control hadn't f'd up his speed lap slot, he would be P2 and Romain P3. Lotus themselves admitted their mistake..
In 2009, Grosjean was completely eclipsed by Alonso. He's just another F1 journeyman. Lewis overtook an entire GP2 field, GP2 is bumper cars in comparison to F1.
Hulkenberg, Perez, Glock, Rosberg, Maldonado, Petrov, Piquet...GP2 is like every other series. The occasional diamond will shine through the rest of the also-rans.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98118"Today didn't go quite as planned," said the Finn. "There's no issue with the car; I made a mistake and there was a communication issue so the timing wasn't right to get another lap.
If all went ok, of course Kimi would have been up there with Grosjean, if not above, here's why:
These are the splits for both drivers in both stints in Q1:
1st stint
Räikkönen does a hot lap, a slow lap (tyres, track position) and another hot lap. Sectors: 29.5, 23.1, 35.0Code:RAI GRO 29.6 25.3 35.4 30.2 23.8 37.2 31.4 24.4 37.5 29.5 23.1 35.0 29.5 23.1 35.0 29.4 23.5 Pit 30.9 23.5 Pit
Grosjean does a slow lap (don't know why, Kimi did the same in the next stint), a hot lap and starts another hot lap that he aborts. Sectors: 29.5, 23.1, 35.0 They are exactly the same one than Räikkönen's. Grosjean lap is 50 thousands of a second faster
2nd Stint:
1st lap:Grosjean a hot lap with 29.2, 23.1, Räikkönen does a slow lap (don't know why).Code:RAI GRO 30.8 24.8 36.7 29.2 23.1 34.8 29.0 23.0 39.9 29.1 23.7 36.9 28.8 23.0 34.5
2nd lap: Grosjean starts a hotlap that he aborts with 29.1, 23.7 and 36.9. Räikkönen does his hot lap with 29.0, 23.0 and 39.9 (here is the mistake, obviously). Compare Kimi's sectors with Grosjean's in the first hotlap and the first sector of the hotlap he aborted.
3rd lap: Only Grosjean had time to do it. 28.8, 23.0 and 34.5, even with less fuel, the sectors are more or less where Räikkönen's were.
Kimi did a stupid mistake, but in Qualy he wasn't slower, at all. And it is looking good for him in the race, despite his issues with the steering on the Lotus.
Interesting quali timeségrid order. Raikkonen will showcase his skill once again, rest assured. Good job by Grosjean. I`m sure he`ll do well but I can`t help but wonder where the team might have ended at the seasons conclusion should Raikkonen and Kubica have been keeping each other honest.
McLaren ahead of Red Bull...Beautiful...Nothing else needs to be said.
Fuck you, Maldonado.
Literally and figuratively.
There is a certain poetic justice, after having to stare at 22 pig ugly looking machines.
Guess we can put the Grosjean/Kimi debate firmly to bed. Grojean delivered exactly what I expected of him.
Lewis will be gutted. Lovely controlled drive from Jenson.
We should all be very happy. Lap 50, 5.4 seconds covering top 4. Fantastic.
And Maldonado. No-one crashes there, go sit with Grosjean.
And surprised how much race pace Fernando had.
Streaming F1 in glorious HD. F*** you Bernie, f*** you Rupert.
Grosjean got punted off .... Kimi did well to get to where he finish... even though he's forgotten what the blue flags are for LOL
Shame for Lewis.... the bold Macca double pitting move nearly paid off... though the laps behind perez hurt him as well.
Typical Massa.... couldn't get the speed to hit Lewis... so he went for Senna....
strong drive from Jenson, i think we could be in for a Macca/RBR battle this season
Posting Permissions
