Things I learned from today's F1 GP

[yellowperil]

Japanese GP is always entertaining. Red Bull is hard to beat. We may soon be hearing "La Marseillaise". Kimi will pass you anywhere especially if he's not supposed to. Eddie Jordan is an a*s. Podium interviews still suck.

[livi]

Very adequate summary.

[Neilk]

Great race from Grosjean, but I feel like his team screwed up their strategy. He went from 1st to 3 as they rotated through the final pitstops.

It's too bad that Webber didn't pass Grosjean right after his pitstop. It would have been nice to see him try to pass Vettel for the lead.

Overall, good race. Too bad Hammy retired after his flat.

[Noah930]

Both Webber and Grosjean's teams screwed the pooch on their strategy.

Hulkenberg drove great.

Suzuka is an automotive bucket-list quality track.

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Both Webber and Grosjean's teams screwed the pooch on their strategy..

Red Bull didn't screw the pooch, they screwed Weber, and clearly intentionally.

It ended exactly how they wanted it to end.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by emcon5

Red Bull didn't screw the pooch, they screwed Weber, and clearly intentionally.

It ended exactly how they wanted it to end.

Biz as usual.

BTW: Have Dish Network - talk about getting screwed. So you have to get the top tier package with all the cr@p channels just to get F1. However, I just happened to find F1 televised on a Spanish channel - INCLUDED with the basic programing package. DISH Network sucks.

[strupgolf]

Eddie Jordon is fun, at least he can discuss racing. How about in 10 years, wait now, Kimi doing the post race interviews. Well, it could happen, would we all not all laugh our ass, s off.

[Henry Schmidt]

Vettel went longer at pace than Webber in this race as well as most races this year.
The tire strategy was based in the ability to preserve tires and still maintain a winning pace.
If Webber could have gotten past Grosean in the last stint he would have had a great shot at Vettel. We all know Vettel is hard to pass in fresh air but that was his best (Webbers)shot.

The tyre strategies for each driver:
.................................Stint 1...... Stint 2....... Stint 3 ...... Stint 4
Sebastian Vettel ........ Medium (14) Hard (23) Hard (16)
Mark Webber .........Medium (11) Hard (14) Hard (17) Medium (11)
Romain Grosjean ........Medium (12) Hard (17) Hard (24)
Fernando Alonso ......... Medium (13) Hard (17) Hard (23)
Kimi Raikkonen ........Medium (11) Hard (20) Hard (22)
Nico Hulkenberg ........Medium (10) Hard (19) Hard (24)
Esteban Gutierrez ....... Medium (9) Hard (21) Hard (23)
Nico Rosberg ........Medium (12) Hard (12) Medium (15) Hard (14)
Jenson Button ........Medium (8). Hard (15) Hard (17) Medium (13)
Felipe Massa .......Medium (11) Hard (17) Hard (25)
Paul di Resta ........Medium (10) Hard (16) Hard (27)
Jean-Eric Vergne ........ Medium (7) Hard (14) Medium (17) Hard (14)
Daniel Ricciardo ..........Hard (21) . Hard (23) Medium (8)
Adrian Sutil ..........Medium (8) Hard (19) Hard (25)
Sergio Perez ..........Medium (12) Hard (18) Hard (12) Medium (10)
Pastor Maldonado ...........Medium (9) Hard (19) Hard (24)
Valtteri Bottas ...........Medium (8) Hard (19) Hard (25)
Charles Pic ............. Hard (17) Medium (18) Hard (17)
Max Chilton ......... Medium (11) Hard (18) Hard (23)
Lewis Hamilton........ Medium (1) Hard (6)
Giedo van der Garde...... Medium

[javadog]

I wonder what would have happened if Webber had just kept his third set and nursed them to the finish. Seems like he had enough cushion to lose a second a lap.

I can't understand why they brought him in so early on his first stop. If his times weren't dropping, they don't gain anything in terms of strategy, they just reduce the chance to change strategy later in the race.

JR

[legion]

Red Bull is shaping up to be the most cutthroat team in terms of having a clear number 1 drvier. I wouldn't be surprised if Riccardo only lasts a season before moving on once he realizes he will always get 2nd choice on tire strategy (that can be changed at any time to accomodate Vettel), his car will be used both as a test mule for new parts and as a repository of potential spare parts for Vettel, and he will experience mysterious failures and fires that his teammate never seems to have.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by strupgolf

Eddie Jordon is fun, at least he can discuss racing. How about in 10 years, wait now, Kimi doing the post race interviews. Well, it could happen, would we all not all laugh our ass, s off.

Mumbles doing a post race interview? That would be great. Wouldn't understand a word but it would be fun to watch.

[GG Allin]

I don't understand why Webber is walking away from it, Surely Lotus would take him, no?

[legion]

I expect because Porche made it worthwhile for him.

Webber can be at the top of the sports car world or be the perpetual second fiddle to Vettel. Maybe he doesn't have confidence in any other team overcoming Newey.

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by legion

I expect because Porche made it worthwhile for him.

Webber can be at the top of the sports car world or be the perpetual second fiddle to Vettel. Maybe he doesn't have confidence in any other team overcoming Newey.

Next year should be interesting, unless Newey designs another superior car.

I also can't help but wonder if Räikkönen leaving to go to Ferrari is a mistake. Imagine the mess that team's gonna be.

[legion]

There's a guy here at work who is a huge Kimi fan. I run into him maybe once a month. I bumped into him last week and asked him about Kimi. He just shook his head. He said that he doesn't think Kimi has the temperement to overcome Alonso's cunning and treachery.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by legion

I expect because Porche made it worthwhile for him.

Webber can be at the top of the sports car world or be the perpetual second fiddle to Vettel. Maybe he doesn't have confidence in any other team overcoming Newey.

McNish thought it would be easy to climb back into a prototype after his stint at Toyota in F1. Some would say the transition was not that easy or successful.

Webber hasn't been in a competitive P1 level car since Mercedes in the late 90's. I don't think this transition will be as easy as he thinks. Porsche has a lot of talent in its driver's pool. Why they are going with Webber for this big step is beyond me.

[TheMentat]

Originally Posted by legion

Red Bull is shaping up to be the most cutthroat team in terms of having a clear number 1 drvier. I wouldn't be surprised if Riccardo only lasts a season before moving on once he realizes he will always get 2nd choice on tire strategy (that can be changed at any time to accomodate Vettel), his car will be used both as a test mule for new parts and as a repository of potential spare parts for Vettel, and he will experience mysterious failures and fires that his teammate never seems to have.

I dunno... I think Riccardio has a similar Red Bull pedigree to Finger Boy. That might earn him the chance to prove his worth. With that being said, I have no doubt they will but the full weight of the team behind whomever proves to be the stronger of the two...

[Eric Hahl]

I'll just throw a little more conspiracy out there about the Red Bull team.

Webbers car was clearly faster the Grojeans. He caught him with ease, then all of the sudden he couldn't pass on the straight, using DRS?! Me thinks the team remote controlled the mapping so he would be stuck for a while and Vettel could get away. Yeah, yeah, its far fetched but I wouldn't put it past them.

[javadog]

Teams can't change the engine mapping remotely. Telemetry goes one way, car to pits.

JR

[Henry Schmidt]

It's interesting to watch hate rear it's ugly head. A head that splits open to spew the silliest nonsense.

It's a great sport that has great teams and drivers that share the spotlight if not the glory. Give the hate a rest.