Chinese GP ROTR

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 09 Apr 2013, 21:35

Reject of the race. And qualifying. And free practice
Anything goes

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 09 Apr 2013, 21:38

ROTR stands for Reject of the Race. Not Reject of the Week Before the Race. At least wait until Friday before making this.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 09 Apr 2013, 21:40

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:ROTR stands for Reject of the Race. Not Reject of the Week Before the Race. At least wait until Friday before making this.

Or Saturday... :roll:

Post by **Londoner** » 09 Apr 2013, 21:49

Roblomas52 for opening this thread far too early.

Or alternatively, Captain Hammer for never being around to open these threads at the appropriate time.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 09 Apr 2013, 21:55

The letters 'G' and 'P' require capitalisation, goddamnit! :evil:

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 09 Apr 2013, 21:59

takagi_for_the_win wrote:The letters 'G' and 'P' require capitalisation, goddamnit!

Fixed(or should that be FIXED)

Post by **Ataxia** » 09 Apr 2013, 22:38

Seeing as we have nothing else to comment on...I vote "Grain of dust A" for being slower than "Grain of dust B" down the straight despite being a hot favourite. The fool.

Seriously, I know you've got itchy fingers but please (for the 1000th time) put "brain to fingers" before "fingers to keyboard". We also like correct grammar here.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 09 Apr 2013, 22:40

I think that, after 4 years, the forum is increasingly less able to be self-policing. Someone (not me, I'm lazy) should do up a list etiquette guidelines for the forum.

Not opening the ROTR thread on Tuesday would be high up on such a list.

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 09 Apr 2013, 22:46

There is another way ... I'll lock this thread and one of the mods can reopen it once the action gets underway in Shanghai.

Post by **mario** » 12 Apr 2013, 11:07

eytl wrote:There is another way ... I'll lock this thread and one of the mods can reopen it once the action gets underway in Shanghai.

And now that we have had the first two practise sessions, I think that it is probably now OK to open this thread back up again.

Speaking of which, I think that Marussia are indirectly in for an early nomination here through the problems that Chilton has had with reliability - to break down once in a session is unfortunate, but to break down twice and therefore lose virtually all running time at a circuit he has never driven at before is going to really compromise his performance.
Equally, I have to say that Perez has had, so far, a scruffy weekend - he's crashed into the barriers at the entrance to the pit lane in the first session and caused a little bit of light damage to his car in the second session when he spun off track (a few small bits of his wing and strakes from the diffuser being knocked off). To add insult to injury, although his times in the first session are perhaps excusable given that he and Button were running different upgrade packages, in the second session Perez had the same package and was half a second off Button's pace - it sounds as if it's going to be a hard weekend for him unless he can find a better set up tomorrow.

Gerudo Dragon · Post by **Gerudo Dragon** » 12 Apr 2013, 12:46

Vettel, obviously.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 13 Apr 2013, 03:45

I don't know if Vettel is sandbagging, but being a second off the pace in two practice sessions in a row is pretty disturbing, and I am not a Vettel fan.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 13 Apr 2013, 07:08

Well, the qualifying itself was a farce. A waiting game turned into "we are all only doing one run".

Post by **Londoner** » 13 Apr 2013, 07:09

I was gonna nominate myself for oversleeping and missing all but Q3, but I'm gonna nominate the entire field. Just suck it up and set laptimes and stop complaining about Pirelli.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 13 Apr 2013, 07:11

While Q3 was pretty rubbish, I must give a special shoutout to Toro Rosso for making TWO daft strategy calls in the space of one hour (Wasting a set of mediums in Q1 was a pretty stupid idea and it probably would have been smarter for them to not send Ricciardo out in Q3 at all)

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 13 Apr 2013, 07:19

Gonna nominate the 'start on the tyres you qualify in Q3 with'. It's 3 years out of date but the FIA refuses to get rid if it for god knows what reason.

Post by **mario** » 13 Apr 2013, 07:26

Wizzie wrote:While Q3 was pretty rubbish, I must give a special shoutout to Toro Rosso for making TWO daft strategy calls in the space of one hour (Wasting a set of mediums in Q1 was a pretty stupid idea and it probably would have been smarter for them to not send Ricciardo out in Q3 at all)

I suppose that Toro Rosso are perhaps hoping that being a little further up the grid might reduce the chances of Ricciardo being caught out in a first corner accident.
Otherwise, though, it does seem a little odd that they went for a lap given that their most likely rival in the top 10, Hulkenberg, didn't - had Ricciardo at least set sector times but not finished the lap, he'd have had the best of both worlds as he'd start ahead of Hulkenberg, who simply went out and back in again, but still had a free choice of tyres.

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:Gonna nominate the 'start on the tyres you qualify in Q3 with'. It's 3 years out of date but the FIA refuses to get rid if it for god knows what reason.

It is indeed proving to be increasingly anachronistic, especially in races like this where the performance gap between the two tyres is so exaggerated. I wonder, though, if the reason that regulation hasn't been changed is because some of the midfield teams don't want it to change, because it is to their benefit (if they can run a reverse strategy by forcing the top teams to run on the softer tyres), and therefore have lobbied the FIA to keep that regulation in force?

Rusujuur · Post by **Rusujuur** » 13 Apr 2013, 08:28

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:Gonna nominate the 'start on the tyres you qualify in Q3 with'. It's 3 years out of date but the FIA refuses to get rid if it for god knows what reason.
It is indeed proving to be increasingly anachronistic, especially in races like this where the performance gap between the two tyres is so exaggerated. I wonder, though, if the reason that regulation hasn't been changed is because some of the midfield teams don't want it to change, because it is to their benefit (if they can run a reverse strategy by forcing the top teams to run on the softer tyres), and therefore have lobbied the FIA to keep that regulation in force?

Nobody ever tries the harder option in Q3. Why is that? Even here the hard runners didn't really make a timed effort. As I said in the race forum maybe they should have a 107% rule in q3 as well. But at this early stage I propose Red Bull as they screwed Mark over and I have a feeling Vettels strategy is not that great But we'll see tomorrow. Extra points for the intra team feud and the poor handling from the bosses. I am sure Fernando, Lewis and Kimi are all happy as there is trouble in Vettelland.

tc3j3r · Post by **tc3j3r** » 13 Apr 2013, 12:14

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:Gonna nominate the 'start on the tyres you qualify in Q3 with'. It's 3 years out of date but the FIA refuses to get rid if it for god knows what reason.

Seconded.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 13 Apr 2013, 12:21

With Webber's quali time being disallowed after not having enough fuel on board, and Vettel having been beaten by Ricciardo, the #1 and #2 drivers of the B-Team have effectively beaten their counterparts from the A-Team. Hence, Hannibal Smith, Templeton Peck, B.A. Baracus and Murdoch are now the leading contenders for this weekend's award. ;-)

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 13 Apr 2013, 12:40

I nominate Sutil for blaming Raikkonen for ruining his lap only for his next Raikkonen-less lap to be about the same :lol:

Post by **mario** » 13 Apr 2013, 12:45

Rusujuur wrote:
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:Gonna nominate the 'start on the tyres you qualify in Q3 with'. It's 3 years out of date but the FIA refuses to get rid if it for god knows what reason.
It is indeed proving to be increasingly anachronistic, especially in races like this where the performance gap between the two tyres is so exaggerated. I wonder, though, if the reason that regulation hasn't been changed is because some of the midfield teams don't want it to change, because it is to their benefit (if they can run a reverse strategy by forcing the top teams to run on the softer tyres), and therefore have lobbied the FIA to keep that regulation in force?

Nobody ever tries the harder option in Q3. Why is that? Even here the hard runners didn't really make a timed effort. As I said in the race forum maybe they should have a 107% rule in q3 as well. But at this early stage I propose Red Bull as they screwed Mark over and I have a feeling Vettels strategy is not that great But we'll see tomorrow. Extra points for the intra team feud and the poor handling from the bosses. I am sure Fernando, Lewis and Kimi are all happy as there is trouble in Vettelland.

Judging from the times that Vettel was doing, it looks like he was actually trying to set a somewhat representative lap time on his medium tyre run. Despite going off the track (due to what he claims was a brake problem) and then back into the pit lane, his lap time was recorded as 1m50.5s, or more than 15 seconds quicker than Button's time. Unlike Button, therefore, it suggests that he was still pushing reasonably hard, perhaps in an attempt to put himself ahead of Button and Ricciardo.

solarcold · Post by **solarcold** » 13 Apr 2013, 13:11

CoopsII wrote:I nominate Sutil for blaming Raikkonen for ruining his lap only for his next Raikkonen-less lap to be about the same

Well, Raikonen have always been a special man for Adrian...

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 13 Apr 2013, 15:59

Shizuka wrote:Well, the qualifying itself was a farce. A waiting game turned into "we are all only doing one run".

And I shall nominate the same. Caveat: this might give us a cracking race, but I felt pathetic watching that qualifying session.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 13 Apr 2013, 17:01

At the moment, Red Bull for one of worst qualify session since your midfield times.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 13 Apr 2013, 17:14

Dj_bereta wrote:At the moment, Red Bull for one of worst qualify session since your midfield times.

On paper yeah, but I think Vettel is on the best strategy, so he'll probably wind up winning anyway.

Post by **mario** » 13 Apr 2013, 21:58

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
Dj_bereta wrote:At the moment, Red Bull for one of worst qualify session since your midfield times.

On paper yeah, but I think Vettel is on the best strategy, so he'll probably wind up winning anyway.

Maybe - it'll depend on how far he can stretch that first stint on the medium tyres.

He will want to keep the last stint on the soft tyre fairly short to minimise his time losses - let's say he keeps it down to six laps (with a rubbered in track and low fuel load, that should be manageable). If he wants to have reasonably widely spaced out stops and is banking on a two stopper, which is feasible, he'll need to do about 25 laps per stint on the mediums.
Now, Hamilton did a fairly lengthy stint on the medium tyres (27 laps, I've heard) in practise with moderate drop off, so that length of stint is possible on a medium fuel load for some drivers. If Vettel can get a bit over 20 laps with his tyres in the first stint and can run mostly in free air, then he should be in a fairly strong position - if he has to cut that first stint short, then he'll either have to run a longer than ideal stint in the middle or at the end.

There is also the problem of what might happen if he gets stuck behind Button or Hulkenberg in that first stint - we know Button will start on the medium tyre and Hulkenberg is almost certainly doing the same, so they'll be running as long as Vettel might but not necessarily at the same pace.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 13 Apr 2013, 22:23

If anything, Red Bull should be nominated for their careless fuelling on Webber's car - fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you. Or something like that.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Apr 2013, 08:10

Mark Webber: KARMA. That is all.

Gerudo Dragon · Post by **Gerudo Dragon** » 14 Apr 2013, 08:28

Esteban Gutierrez, shitty pay driver...

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 14 Apr 2013, 08:43

darkapprentice77 wrote:Esteban Gutierrez, shitty pay driver...

This

Post by **tommykl** » 14 Apr 2013, 08:50

Esteban Gutiérrez - wut r braks?
Red Bull mechanics - failed to give Webber enough fuel in Q2, then failed to attach the right rear wheel in the race.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 14 Apr 2013, 08:58

Esteban Gutierrez for being a useless waste of a seat.
Pirelli for bringing a useless tire once again, thus ruining any "racing" for most of the "race".

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 14 Apr 2013, 08:58

Gutierrez - Nice driving mate.
Webber/RBR - Crap all around.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 14 Apr 2013, 09:01

Mark's Mechanics--First you fail to put in fuel,next you fail to put a tyre on.At this rate,his car might decompose in the wind in Bahrain.

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 14 Apr 2013, 09:02

1. Red Bull: Poor weekend. Vettel's strategy didn't pay off, Webber's weekend was a disaster: Out of fuel in qualifying, wheel fell off in the race.

2. Gutierrez: His inability to brake destroyed Sutil's race.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 14 Apr 2013, 09:03

Esteban Gutiérrez
What a clown.

Red Bull Racing
Their strategy call was not quite the right one. Not by a lot, but there was probably still a chance of Vettel fighting for P1 if he'd stuck to the normal strategy. But the proper reject stuff was on the #2 car. Underfuelled, incorrect application of wheelnut, tangling with a B-team car, it was a total mess on the other half of the team.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 14 Apr 2013, 09:04

This is a difficult one. Gutierrez didn't cover himself in glory, but he did emulate the great Schumacher. Silly, but he was fighting for position, on full tanks, during his third F1 race. Even Sutil didn't sound exceedingly cross with it on the BBC interview afterwards. Stuff happens.

In the end I think I might go with Red Bull instead. The monkey business in Q3, trying to stay on the prime tyres and then bailing out of it and putting Vettel under pressure did not deliver any strategic advantage, and the pit stops messes for Webber in qualifying and race made me think of a team whose mind was not in the task at hand. Maybe they were still chewing over the Malaysian blunders. Funny how a 1-2 finish may put a team in the back foot.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 14 Apr 2013, 09:13

Webber's side of the garage. They messed up with everything.

Esteban Gutiérrez also deserves a nomination for his brainfade moment.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 14 Apr 2013, 09:19

Me for setting my alarm and being awake for the start, only to fall back asleep, and miss everything up to lap 7...

But yeah, in reality, Webber had an awful race. He was hampered by mistakes from the team the fuel in qualifying and the wheel in the race, but the move on JEV was entirely his own fault, he was nowhere near him under braking.