****The Official Chinese Grand Prix thread*****

[CraigyMc]

troc said:

I wonder if mclaren are simply concentrating on 2015 and Honda rather than putting all their efforts into a car and engine combination they know is only for one season?

By wonder I mean (as a long-time mclaren fan) "hope"

All the new engines have common mounting points, so I doubt this very much.

I suspect they are just bolting on downforce bit by bit so as not to end up with similar problems to last year: it's not quick, but it's methodical and they need to prove the process again after the fiasco of non-correlation from before.

[allegerita]

Nobody noticed that while on the podium Lewis showed Nico how light weight the prices were? While picking his up he first looked like: "what am I picking up now?" and then showed Nico: "this stuff is plastic!".

[Tony2or4]

allegerita said:

Nobody noticed that while on the podium Lewis showed Nico how light weight the prices were? While picking his up he first looked like: "what am I picking up now?" and then showed Nico: "this stuff is plastic!".

Made in Hong Kong?

[anonymous-user]

Trophies cant be more than 5Kg.

[Wills2]

deadslow said:

Just watched the highlights. Very enjoyable.

The Merc is unbeatable.
Hamilton is better than Rosberg.
Alonso is the class of the field.
McLaren is the new Williams.
Williams is the new Keystone Kops.
Vettel is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Grosjean ought to be in the second Merc.

Superb summary!

[BritishRacinGrin]

I imagine Vettel had quite a lengthy de-brief having probably cost Ricciardo a very real possability of a podium. Looks like Ferrari have made a genuine step forward, good to see Alonso on the podium. Grosjean drove another superb weekend.

[glazbagun]

I don't know if it's his Scandinavian character, but Kevin Magnussen seems positively depressed for a guy in his debut F1 season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vQ_zCQOOdY

[Scuffers]

hora said:

BritishRacinGrin said:

I imagine Vettel had quite a lengthy de-brief having probably cost Ricciardo a very real possability of a podium. Looks like Ferrari have made a genuine step forward, good to see Alonso on the podium. Grosjean drove another superb weekend.

Really didnt do him any favours. Childish.

I'm waiting for the big toys & pram moment.....

[Corpulent Tosser]

Coulthard comment.

I didn't see the race live but watched it all last night on Supersport (South African TV) and tehre was a discussion between Coulthard and another commentator about Hamiltons failure to finish in the first race and that it was a split plug lead which caused the problem.

The other chap mentioned how a small thing like a split in a bit of rubber cost Hamilton thechance to race, Coulthard replied, yes a split rubber can be very costly.

Maybe just my childish mentality but I found this quick comment quite amusing, anyone else catch it ?

[Derek Smith]

Corpulent Tosser said:

Coulthard comment.

I didn't see the race live but watched it all last night on Supersport (South African TV) and tehre was a discussion between Coulthard and another commentator about Hamiltons failure to finish in the first race and that it was a split plug lead which caused the problem.

The other chap mentioned how a small thing like a split in a bit of rubber cost Hamilton thechance to race, Coulthard replied, yes a split rubber can be very costly.

Maybe just my childish mentality but I found this quick comment quite amusing, anyone else catch it ?

Speaking as a father of four kids, I wonder if the plug lead came in contact with baby oil. There should be a warning.

[strummerville]

jsf said:

Trophies cant be more than 5Kg.

It's so they can get them home on Ryan Air ;-)

[Rich A]

How long is Kimi's contract with ferrari? If I was Mattiacci, I would not be happy about missing the points my second world champion driver should be picking up, whilst sat 2 points behind Force India after race 4. Kimi really needs to up his game.

I expect not making the front row after q3, then the very poor start will cost Rosberg more than a win yesterday. Surely after the fighting talk following Bahrain his confidence will have taken a knock. I hope he continues to challenge Lewis rather than allowing him 20 second leads for the rest of the season.

[mollytherocker]

I reckon Kimi will be gone in about 2 races. The hulk?

[longblackcoat]

Gaz. said:

Kimi's contract is 2 years I think. iirc Alonso has two years + 1 year option on his side.

There's some debate about this - I've seen it stated** that it's a 1 year contract with a second year (non-optional for Ferrari) so long as he scores a certain number of points. Presumably this would be on a percentage basis (so long as he's scoring something like 30% of the points, something like that) rather than an absolute, but who knows?

Either way, as I said in a previous post, I can't see him driving next year. He's clearly just not interested, and whatever mojo he had has long-since departed.


**On the internet, so this could be complete cobblers

[hairyben]

longblackcoat said:

Either way, as I said in a previous post, I can't see him driving next year. He's clearly just not interested, and whatever mojo he had has long-since departed.

The kimi/ferrari relationship is an intriguing one, I've given up making any assumptions about what may happen as it appears to follow no predictable or logical path, certainly to an outsider. It's one of formula 1's curious random sideshows, like who'll get maldonardo'd next.

[CraigyMc]

longblackcoat said:

He's clearly just not interested

I disagree with this. If he was truly disinterested he'd not be there at all. Money is obviously a factor, but it's still a dangerous job.

It's a complex year because of the regulation change. It's change of team, brakes, braking system and steering for a guy who is very particular about the latter items.

The braking alone (integration of ERS-K and brake balance biasing) is very likely causing a lot of issues for him, and will continue to do so until the systems are refined enough for the feel not to be synthetic. You could say Alonso is exposed to the same issues, but the driving styles of the two guys is pretty different - Alonso's default setup is understeery and Kimi's is oversteery. The entry to the corners is radically different and the new Ferrari suits Alonso's stlye more.

All IMO obv.

[hairyben]

Corpulent Tosser said:

Coulthard comment.

I didn't see the race live but watched it all last night on Supersport (South African TV) and tehre was a discussion between Coulthard and another commentator about Hamiltons failure to finish in the first race and that it was a split plug lead which caused the problem.

The other chap mentioned how a small thing like a split in a bit of rubber cost Hamilton thechance to race, Coulthard replied, yes a split rubber can be very costly.

Maybe just my childish mentality but I found this quick comment quite amusing, anyone else catch it ?

No, but watching on sky I liked brundle during qually "It'll be of some relief to all the backrunners that maldonardo isn't running... pauses ... as they'll all gain a grid place of course."

[hairyben]

hora said:

BritishRacinGrin said:

I imagine Vettel had quite a lengthy de-brief having probably cost Ricciardo a very real possability of a podium. Looks like Ferrari have made a genuine step forward, good to see Alonso on the podium. Grosjean drove another superb weekend.

Really didnt do him any favours. Childish.

Oh contrare, he went up in both mine + SWMBO's estimation (and SWMBO being an aussie despises him, that says something)

It was no-where near a clear cut strat call IMO and I don't blame vettel a bit for challenging it.

Evan if merc run away and make it a two tier championship at least we've seen more awesome racing/battling/excitement between the teammates that enriches the sport in a few races than red bullsts or ferraris synchronised "race management" gave us in the added-up decade of dominance they had between them

[rubystone]

hairyben said:

Oh contrare, he went up in both mine + SWMBO's estimation (and SWMBO being an aussie despises him, that says something)

It was no-where near a clear cut strat call IMO and I don't blame vettel a bit for challenging it.

Evan if merc run away and make it a two tier championship at least we've seen more awesome racing/battling/excitement between the teammates that enriches the sport in a few races than red bullsts or ferraris synchronised "race management" gave us in the added-up decade of dominance they had between them

I agree. Had that been Rosberg and Hamilton we'd have been yelling at the TV. Mind you, it was highly amusing....

[rubystone]

longblackcoat said:

I'm impressed, yet again, by Hulkenberg. He's in a so-so car, he's nearly 20kg heavier than his team-mate, and he's picking up good points yet again. If you look at points scored versus the budgets, Force India are doing really well, and Hulk disproportionately so - twice as many points as Perez.

True, but Perez has a podium..