F1 2011/ Motor Racing Thread

[Gatso]

I know the results speak for themselves but overall I do think Vettel & Alonso were the best two drivers this season (for different reasons as well).

 

I really do hope they enforce a rule where no one can pit when the safety car is out, the amount of times it turns the race on its head is ridiculous and you get a situation like today where Alonso/Webber/Massa all lost out because the likes of Petrov & Rosberg jumped into the pits at the end of the first lap, its different doing a different strategy but I do think that its a clear disadvantage to anyone between 4th - 7th when that happens, the top 2-3 usually get by but its happened a few times this season and kind of ruined todays race I felt.

 

Funny enough the two quotes on the radio this season pretty much summed up this season for me...

 

"Not bad for a number two driver" - I still feel Webber is a number two driver compared to Vettel (who is twice the driver IMO).

 

"Alonso is faster than you" - Massa has had an awful season and has been way off the pace, if I was Alonso I would be pissed off that my team mate hasn't done anything at all this season (Germany aside) and has been about 1 second slower on every circuit than Alonso, you could argue that Alonso has brought the very best out of a poor Ferrari but Massa has contributed nothing all season, Alonso should have a quiet word and fuck him off (I do like Massa but not good enough for Ferrari sorry).

 

I would even say the same about Button, done well last year for Brawn but whilst he is in the same car as a top driver (in this case Hamilton) he will always be 2nd best.

 

Has been a good season (today was probably overhyped thus a poor race) and look forward to next year, not overly keen on the circuit today as a spectacle (looks fab, has a cool pitlane exit, but is a bit boring with little action) but next year should be plenty of fun, Vettel will be hard to stop though.

[Loki]

Yeah, nobody seems to have really talked about it, but Massa's not been the same since he came back from that huge head trauma.

 

So, so, so glad that Alonso didn't win. His display of petulance towards Petrov just sums up what sort of person he is. A cheat and a poor loser.

[ajmcstyles]

Could be a possible firing for Massa hopefully he'll fuck off. Nice to see a young'en win the championship BUT this year just like last season and im not taking anything away from Webber and Vettel but I feel it was the car than the driver. Button was the same last year it was the car rather than Jenson. You get guys like Hulkenberg, Hamilton who have average cars but push the fuckers to there ultimate limit. Hopefully the average cars will work out the bugs so they are on level with Red Bull Racing.

 

Bring on the 2011 season

[The Natural]

So, so, so glad that Alonso didn't win. His display of petulance towards Petrov just sums up what sort of person he is. A cheat and a poor loser.

 

This. Before the race my manta was anyone but Alonso. Glad that happened. Whiny fucker.

[tiger_rick]

Vettel was the rightful world champion this year. I don't like Red Bull because I hate anyone who's overly dominant, but Seb has out qualified everyone all year, driven some incredible races and been really unlucky with his car. That's been great because it would have been a really poor championship without those reliability issues but he deserved to win much more than Alonso, who's a cunt, and Hamilton who's thrown away points with stupid decisions, on top of the mcLaren's and Ferrari's just not delivering the car.

 

Out of interest, here's the new/old points comparison. Not a great deal of difference other than Hamilton/Webber switching and the championship being all but over in Brazil.

 

Vettel 256

Alonso 252

Webber 242

Hamilton 240

Button 214

Massa 144

Rosberg 142

Kubica 136

Schumacher 72

Sutil 47

Barrichello 47

Kobayashi 32

Petrov 27

Hulkenburg 22

Liuzzi 21

Buemi 8

De la rosa 6

Heidfeld 6

Alguersari 5

 

Vettel 119

Alonso 101

Hamilton 100

Webber 97

Button 87

Rosberg 61

Massa 57

Kubica 52

Schumacher 25

Sutil 15

Barrichello 15

Kobayashi 9

Petrov 9

Hulkenburg 6

Liuzzi 5

De la rosa 2

Buemi 1

Heidfeld 1

Alguersari 0

 

Had they gone with the "most wins" scoring system, it was:

Vettel 5

Alonso 5

Webber 4

Hamilton 3

Button 2

 

Not sure what the plan was to seperate them? They both had two 2nd place finishes and three 3rd places too!

[The Four Horsemen]

IIRC, I think they said on BBC that they would have gone to 4th and 5th places and so on until they had a clear winner. Was a very interesting, scandal filled season and for my money the right driver won in the end.

 

Have to say I was more than a little disappointed with Schumi's return, maybe I hoped a little too much there. The driver that impressed me the most through the season has to be Kobayashi, has to be only a matter of time before he is picked up by either Red Bull or Ferrari as a replacement for either Webber or Massa. I think the thing that impresses me so much about him is that he truly shows no fear about his driving and for me that will always win that drivers attention, maybe (and its early in his career) he will turn out to be the best Japanese driver ever.

 

Highlight of the season - close tie between Hulkenburgs pole lap and Webbers flying car trick.

[stewdogg]

Vettel was the rightful world champion this year. I don't like Red Bull because I hate anyone who's overly dominant, but Seb has out qualified everyone all year, driven some incredible races and been really unlucky with his car. That's been great because it would have been a really poor championship without those reliability issues but he deserved to win much more than Alonso, who's a cunt, and Hamilton who's thrown away points with stupid decisions, on top of the mcLaren's and Ferrari's just not delivering the car.

 

Out of interest, here's the new/old points comparison. Not a great deal of difference other than Hamilton/Webber switching and the championship being all but over in Brazil.

 

Vettel 256

Alonso 252

Webber 242

Hamilton 240

Button 214

Massa 144

Rosberg 142

Kubica 136

Schumacher 72

Sutil 47

Barrichello 47

Kobayashi 32

Petrov 27

Hulkenburg 22

Liuzzi 21

Buemi 8

De la rosa 6

Heidfeld 6

Alguersari 5

 

Vettel 119

Alonso 101

Hamilton 100

Webber 97

Button 87

Rosberg 61

Massa 57

Kubica 52

Schumacher 25

Sutil 15

Barrichello 15

Kobayashi 9

Petrov 9

Hulkenburg 6

Liuzzi 5

De la rosa 2

Buemi 1

Heidfeld 1

Alguersari 0

 

Had they gone with the "most wins" scoring system, it was:

Vettel 5

Alonso 5

Webber 4

Hamilton 3

Button 2

 

Not sure what the plan was to seperate them? They both had two 2nd place finishes and three 3rd places too!

They mentioned during the coverage that Vettel had a fourth place advantage over Alonso.

[patiirc]

As well as posted in the Rugby Thread

 

Tom Walkinshaw, of TWR and Arrows fame has died aged 64

 

Quit sad that.

 

I always thought he had a 'good head on him' and without him, no Brawn/Schumacher partnership or indeed them two coming to prominence in the F1 world among other things.

 

RIP

[ajmcstyles]

I had a friend tell me that Team orders are allowed in 2011 is this true. If so it ruins sport kinda IE. Massa was goign to win the race a few months back but they let Alonso win instead.

[patiirc]

I had a friend tell me that Team orders are allowed in 2011 is this true. If so it ruins sport kinda IE. Massa was goign to win the race a few months back but they let Alonso win instead.

 

Yeah it was confirmed on the beeb yesterday

[ajmcstyles]

Well the FIA support Ferrari in every way. Always have done always will.

[Monkee]

That old chestnut - FIA = Ferrari International Assistance.

 

The team orders rule has been removed because the teams have always given team orders. What's the point of having a rule that everyone flounts? Some teams are better at hiding it than others ("Save fuel" or "Watch your tyres" - with a wink, wink, nudge, nudge) so what's the point? I can't remember who it was that said it after the German GP (Alonso/Massa incident) but one of the bosses actually said that every team on the grid uses team orders, it just depends on how obvious you want to be about it.

[WWFChilli]

As well as posted in the Rugby Thread

 

Tom Walkinshaw, of TWR and Arrows fame has died aged 64

 

Quit sad that.

 

I always thought he had a 'good head on him' and without him, no Brawn/Schumacher partnership or indeed them two coming to prominence in the F1 world among other things.

 

RIP

 

sad news, great team leader considering he somehow made a Volvo 850 ESTATE somewhat competitive in the 1994 British Touring Car Championship. sad times, Walkinshaw was a great Bathurst driver as well.

[tiger_rick]

I had a friend tell me that Team orders are allowed in 2011 is this true. If so it ruins sport kinda IE. Massa was goign to win the race a few months back but they let Alonso win instead.

I'd rather they just allowed it rather than banned it and then allowed it anyway.

 

If you don't allow team orders, there's no point having a team. Stupid to ban it in the first place.

[LariatTom]

I have no idea if this thread will be going into the new year and suspect someone'll make a new thread once the 2011 car launches begin and we get the beginnings of testing and whatnot. After forgetting/putting it off for weeks and weeks, I've finally got round to buying my Silverstone ticket for next year after realising the money would soon be gone otherwise! I'll be sat at Stowe for the race and I'm looking forward to wandering around the track on Friday and Saturday to check the circuit out.

 

My one problem is that as it stands, I'll be going on my own. My brother's showed a remote interest in coming, but I highly doubt he will. Bizarre that I've been a fan for about 15 years, but this'll be my first race

 

Oh, if you haven't already...check out Autosport's quiz of the year. A bit lengthy but completely worth it and quite difficult in places too!!