Justin: Well, it seems that we (me) tainted Vettel's fortunes by predicting a win for him in the race (I don't mind being too wrong on this count!). My co-blogger also helped out Vettel by saying that the guy who wins the first 3 races always goes on to win the title. Good stuff.
Looking back though, I did say what I would like to see happen.....and Webber delivered a frankly amazing drive from 18th to 3rd! Good to see I sometimes predict good things.
The race in China had everything! Oh, a belated good morning to my co-blogger who, according to my source, got up for the race only to go straight back to bed extremely hungover from the night before. Naughty!
There were overtakes galore, starting with the start as Button and Hamilton both passed Vettel. At various stages, including near the end of the race, the top 5 were covered by only a few seconds.
Button was caught napping when he parked in the Red Bull pit for tyres...whoops! It was a bizarre moment for someone who is usually so cool and calm. After the race he said he was just looking down at something and got distracted.
Three or four laps from the end we had Lewis hunting down Vettel with a sense of excitement in the air. He passed him, and Webber, driving from 18th on the grid, hunted down and passed Button for the final podium slot.
Frankly, I cannot begin to describe how exciting the race was. Lewis Hamilton drove a superb race to win and he is now some 18 points from Vettel in the title hunt. Button is a further 10 behind Lewis, with Webber 1 point behind him.
Mark Webber gets my driver of the day, is that two in two races?? The guy drove an absolutely stonking race, making ballsy overtakes whenever and wherever he could. 18th to 3rd could prove to be the turning point of his season.
Nico Rosberg deserves a mention too, as he was in the mix for the majority of the race, but along with Ferrari and Vettel (who were on two stops) he fell away towards the end and finished 5th.
What of Ferrari? Massa outpaced Alonso for the entire race, which is an interesting change in dynamic there. Ferrari were never in the hunt at all really. Massa was second at one point, but he was on two stops and he was swallowed up by Lewis and Jenson near the end on newer tyres.
Ferrari need to do something to halt their slide towards obscurity, which is what it's looking like at the moment.
Halfway through the season last year, Alonso was some 40 or so points from the top of the title table....he is already that far off after 3 races.
Well done Mark Webber!!! Onto Turkey we go, with a massive 3 week wait. Bah!
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Saturday, 16 April 2011
A statistic
Phil: As my co-blogger has admirably explained, Vettel is on pole for tomorrow's Chinese grand prix, 0.7s ahead of his nearest rival. If he can capitalise on this and turn it into a win he'll have taken the first three races of the season. That's only happened six times before in the 61 years of F1 (Senna '91, Mansell '92, Schumacher '94, '00 and '04 and Hill '96). Each time the driver has gone on to take the world title. Howzat for a statistic?
Vettel Dominates
Justin: Believe me, I don't like naming this latest blog as I have done, but I can think of nothing else to write!
My co-blogger and I had a fun "I Was Having A Blog" live phone chat last night. We spoke of many things and both ultimately agreed that Red Bull as a team seemed far less behind Webber this year. Last year they were keen to spell out at every race the drivers were equal.
It doesnt need spelling out much anymore. Vettel has a hassle free time where as Webber's car had electric problems and broke down in final practice. It was quite ominous as Jake and DC paraded around the pitlane before Qualifying to find Red Bull frantically putting Mark's car back together just about in time for Quali. Horner went on record as saying Vettel had Kers with no problems but they probably wouldn't risk running it with Mark, for quali at least.
Red Bull seem....entirely less bothered with Mark having problem after problem than they would be if it was Seb, of that I am certain. The Number 2 has to look out for number 1, now more than ever.
I imagine it must be damaging to know you won't have KERS power during quali and that you probably cannot rely on it during the race either.
Mark starts a rather bad 18th on the grid after Red Bull sent him out for a final run in q1 on hard tyres. They said the time was there, but they just couldnt get temperature in the tyres. Horner was asked whose decision it was, a team decision we were told. They really should have sent him out on softs to guarantee a good time, as those tyres are over a second quicker than the hard compound.
I am rather worried for Mark's status at Red Bull.
Moving on....Vettel was 0.7 of a second ahead of second placed Button. Hamilton and Rosberg followed closely, with Alonso a staggering 1.4 seconds off pole in 5th.
If you are Alonso and Ferrari, 1.4 seconds is an absolutely disgusting amount of time.
Apparently the Mclaren team want to look more like Ferrari for some reason....just what is it with the red santandar overalls guys??!!!
I predict a relatively comfortable Vettel win tomorrow....even though the quali gap is quite galling, the chasing pack have been closer during the races, well in Malaysia they were anyway. Button will be Vettel's closest challenger as Lewis kills his tyres all the time.
Vettel to win, the rest squabbling over the best of the rest.
Me? I may predict the above, but what I would like to see happen is Webber storm through for a podium.
My co-blogger and I had a fun "I Was Having A Blog" live phone chat last night. We spoke of many things and both ultimately agreed that Red Bull as a team seemed far less behind Webber this year. Last year they were keen to spell out at every race the drivers were equal.
It doesnt need spelling out much anymore. Vettel has a hassle free time where as Webber's car had electric problems and broke down in final practice. It was quite ominous as Jake and DC paraded around the pitlane before Qualifying to find Red Bull frantically putting Mark's car back together just about in time for Quali. Horner went on record as saying Vettel had Kers with no problems but they probably wouldn't risk running it with Mark, for quali at least.
Red Bull seem....entirely less bothered with Mark having problem after problem than they would be if it was Seb, of that I am certain. The Number 2 has to look out for number 1, now more than ever.
I imagine it must be damaging to know you won't have KERS power during quali and that you probably cannot rely on it during the race either.
Mark starts a rather bad 18th on the grid after Red Bull sent him out for a final run in q1 on hard tyres. They said the time was there, but they just couldnt get temperature in the tyres. Horner was asked whose decision it was, a team decision we were told. They really should have sent him out on softs to guarantee a good time, as those tyres are over a second quicker than the hard compound.
I am rather worried for Mark's status at Red Bull.
Moving on....Vettel was 0.7 of a second ahead of second placed Button. Hamilton and Rosberg followed closely, with Alonso a staggering 1.4 seconds off pole in 5th.
If you are Alonso and Ferrari, 1.4 seconds is an absolutely disgusting amount of time.
Apparently the Mclaren team want to look more like Ferrari for some reason....just what is it with the red santandar overalls guys??!!!
I predict a relatively comfortable Vettel win tomorrow....even though the quali gap is quite galling, the chasing pack have been closer during the races, well in Malaysia they were anyway. Button will be Vettel's closest challenger as Lewis kills his tyres all the time.
Vettel to win, the rest squabbling over the best of the rest.
Me? I may predict the above, but what I would like to see happen is Webber storm through for a podium.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Malaysia - Much improved from Australia
Justin: First things first, welcome back to my co-blogger. I cannot wait for the annual "I Was Having A Blog" live event on the Monaco GP weekend. Excellent.
Also, I noticed that he has stuck his neck out to predict Vettel winning the title. Whilst I would point out that it isn't much of a neck sticking out moment, given that his main rivals aren't exactly hot on his heels, I would agree it would be hard to bet against him at this moment in time. Even I said it was a Vettel or Alonso title this year, and with Ferrari fannying around trying to work out what has happened to their car, Vettel is waltzing away at the moment.
After the race, Vettel himself said "Ask Jenson, we know, as he did in 2009, that it is important to get maximum points from the races before others catch you up".
Malaysia was a damn good fun race all round really. As a well seasoned blogger predicted, me, the race was a vast improvement on the season opener in Melbourne.
Vettel did not dissapear into the distance, though Lewis was held up for a while by a lightening fast starting Nick Heidfeld. Webber had KERS issues from the start, ie he didnt have any, any thusly got swamped from the start and went back to 10th for a short period.
In fact, my driver of the day award goes to Mark Webber....just about shading it from Nick Heidfeld. To have no KERS from the start and battle his way through the field and 4 pit stops, a field of cars with KERS, is a mighty achievment to come 4th.
We know too that Vettel had KERS problems, but he used it for at least half the race.
One does have to wonder about the situation at Red Bull. The difference between Webber and Vettel this year is frankly astonishing, given last year they were pretty much equal. Does a world title win make one guy so much faster? Does a world title loss make the other guy so much slower? Does the world champion utterly crush all hope of the nearly man by dominating in such a way? Or, are there darker forces at work? Vettel does seem utterly dominant....but....it's not like Webber is ever the guy to give up or fold totally in the face of adversity. I just don't believe he and he alone is that much worse than Vettel this year. Ok, I could be stirring...but Lewis believes the Red Bull car is illegal, so why can't I speculate on my suspicion that Red Bull are favouring their champion?
Jenson Button had a sterling drive through to second, helped in part by a ropey pitstop for Lewis. A charging Alonso came up behind Hamilton late on and "they touched" (alonso's words). Hamilton was rather slow, Alonso rather fast....and a coming together looked inevitable frankly.
Lewis had a good old moan and whinge after the race and blamed his team for his weekend's shortcomings....really, just when will he grow up a bit? He does this a lot.
Schumi picked up some points, as did Sauber with Koboyashi.
Petrov flew...literally!
Onto China we go, except for the Ferrari team leaders who have buggered off back to Italy to look over data and try and improve their car. Good luck lads!
Also, I noticed that he has stuck his neck out to predict Vettel winning the title. Whilst I would point out that it isn't much of a neck sticking out moment, given that his main rivals aren't exactly hot on his heels, I would agree it would be hard to bet against him at this moment in time. Even I said it was a Vettel or Alonso title this year, and with Ferrari fannying around trying to work out what has happened to their car, Vettel is waltzing away at the moment.
After the race, Vettel himself said "Ask Jenson, we know, as he did in 2009, that it is important to get maximum points from the races before others catch you up".
Malaysia was a damn good fun race all round really. As a well seasoned blogger predicted, me, the race was a vast improvement on the season opener in Melbourne.
Vettel did not dissapear into the distance, though Lewis was held up for a while by a lightening fast starting Nick Heidfeld. Webber had KERS issues from the start, ie he didnt have any, any thusly got swamped from the start and went back to 10th for a short period.
In fact, my driver of the day award goes to Mark Webber....just about shading it from Nick Heidfeld. To have no KERS from the start and battle his way through the field and 4 pit stops, a field of cars with KERS, is a mighty achievment to come 4th.
We know too that Vettel had KERS problems, but he used it for at least half the race.
One does have to wonder about the situation at Red Bull. The difference between Webber and Vettel this year is frankly astonishing, given last year they were pretty much equal. Does a world title win make one guy so much faster? Does a world title loss make the other guy so much slower? Does the world champion utterly crush all hope of the nearly man by dominating in such a way? Or, are there darker forces at work? Vettel does seem utterly dominant....but....it's not like Webber is ever the guy to give up or fold totally in the face of adversity. I just don't believe he and he alone is that much worse than Vettel this year. Ok, I could be stirring...but Lewis believes the Red Bull car is illegal, so why can't I speculate on my suspicion that Red Bull are favouring their champion?
Jenson Button had a sterling drive through to second, helped in part by a ropey pitstop for Lewis. A charging Alonso came up behind Hamilton late on and "they touched" (alonso's words). Hamilton was rather slow, Alonso rather fast....and a coming together looked inevitable frankly.
Lewis had a good old moan and whinge after the race and blamed his team for his weekend's shortcomings....really, just when will he grow up a bit? He does this a lot.
Schumi picked up some points, as did Sauber with Koboyashi.
Petrov flew...literally!
Onto China we go, except for the Ferrari team leaders who have buggered off back to Italy to look over data and try and improve their car. Good luck lads!
Friday, 8 April 2011
A prediction
Phil: Two posts in the space of five minutes. Who'd a thought it? I'm going to stick my proverbial neck out and make a prediction. It worked last time. Here we go. Sebastian Vettel will retain his world title this year. I can feel it in my bones.
When I was in 'Nam...
Phil: Got back a couple of days ago from a very enjoyable honeymoon in Vietnam. Imagine my excitement on the morning of The Big Day when I turned on the telly to watch the first race of the season. Doesn't Albert Park look a lot like Interlagos, I thought, no lake, lots of hills, and hasn't Kubica done well to get it together in time for the first race? After about a minute I realised I was actually watching last year's Brazilian grand prix. In Vietnamese. Anyway, this blog tells me everything I need to know about the race I missed, and my co-blogger has done an admirable job of reporting it. I have only the following to add. 1. Aren't Ferrari crap these days? As my co-blogger has observed, they're at best the third best car this season, after Red Bull and McLaren. And Alonso can't do better than ninth in Friday practice at Sepang. 2. Didn't Petrov do well? Were I wearing a hat, I would take it off to him. After all, he was fairly lacklustre last season, but to put the Renault on the podium? Well doneski. This really only begs the question whether Reanult might actually be faster than Ferrari this year, and of course what Kubica could have done with the car. Finally, a brief personal message for my co-blogger. Have been having issues with my phone lately, but we are definitely on the annual live event on Monaco weekend.
Webber on top in Malaysia
Justin: Session 1 and Webber topped the time sheets ahead of Button, Hamilton and Vettel. Good to see the Aussie up there again, even if it doesn't really count or matter much until Saturday. It will help his mindset though, to know that Australia probably was just a massive one off in terms of his speed compared to Vettel. Schumi was 5th, Massa 6th and Fernando 9th. Ferrari said they were well off the leaders pace, which does not bode well at all really.
Not much other F1 news at the moment, except for the fact that there are thunderstorms forecast all weekend at Sepang. Yey! :-)
Not much other F1 news at the moment, except for the fact that there are thunderstorms forecast all weekend at Sepang. Yey! :-)
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