Abu Dhabi F1

[yellowperil]

Practise is deja vu all over again. Hope something spicy happens THIS weekend.

There's good racing, sometimes, just not at the front where it needs to be. IMO

Maybe there'll be a sand storm or something.

[javadog]

Well, David Coulthard did donuts on the helicopter pad on the top of the Burj al Arab. In a Red Bull, no less. Take that, FIA.

Probably will be the highlight of the weekend.

JR

[livi]

I like the night driving.

Really looking forward to next season. Hopefully the new regimen will stir the pot.

[jyl]

I'll record it. Lemme know if it is worth watching.

[yellowperil]

Mine: Ham, Massa, Perez ((1, 2 , 3)

[gamin]

Webber, Vettel, Rosberg. Well, probably not Webber, but one can hope.

[Henry Schmidt]

We're privileged to be watching something special.
In twenty years, I'll be telling my great grandchildren that I watched it happened.
Just like I tell my grand children about Shumi and told my son about Senna and Prost.
If you love F1, we should all appreciate the magnitude of Vettels accomplishments.

[Noah930]

+1 Henry. While the racing for P1 may be processional, it's pretty incredible to see Vettel's level of total dominance. I feel like one of the few Vettel fans on PPOT.

I didn't catch the end of today's race, but did Alonso stop just once compared to Massa's two pitstops? Is that how Fred finished 5th, but Massa 8th? Wonder how Massa feels about that, given he was one spot ahead of his teammate just before his 2nd stop.

[TheMentat]

Originally Posted by Henry Schmidt

We're privileged to be watching something special.
In twenty years, I'll be telling my great grandchildren that I watched it happened.
Just like I tell my grand children about Shumi and told my son about Senna and Prost.
If you love F1, we should all appreciate the magnitude of Vettels accomplishments.

OK there super-fan...

To be honest, I think this will largely be remembered as a massive accomplishment by Red-Bull. Rightfully or wrongfully, a lot of people think Vettel is just the prime beneficiary of a superior car. The rare occasions where the other teams are competitive seem to support this.

To be fair, the same could be said for some of Schumacher's seasons, and it's not very often that a driver is able to clearly demonstrate their superiority in inferior equipment.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by TheMentat

To be honest, I think this will largely be remembered as a massive accomplishment by Red-Bull. Rightfully or wrongfully, a lot of people think Vettel is just the prime beneficiary of a superior car.

+1. Not saying Vettel isn't a good driver. He is. I just think that Red Bull are in another league the last few years. Ferrari can't find their asses with either hand at the moment. Mercedes and Lotus are hit and miss, nothing special. McLaren has screwed the pooch badly this year. Williams have been building GP2 also-rans for years now. The rest of the teams are grid-fillers.

I wonder if Newey will be able to keep Red Bull on top if the other teams keep poaching his staff...

JR

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by TheMentat

Rightfully or wrongfully, a lot of people think Vettel is just the prime beneficiary of a superior car.

There's truth in that the Red Bull is the overall fastest car out there. Certainly makes Vettel's job easier. What would happen if Lewis or Alonso or Kimi were driving a Red Bull/Newey creation, too? Yet, at the same time, Webber's no slouch and he's been consistently outperformed the last 4 years, despite (fairly) similar equipment. Vettel's success isn't one-off luck, either.

[javadog]

Lewis, Fred and Kimi are on another level from Webber. I'd love to see Vettel along side any of those guys. Watching Prost and Senna go at it was fun. I'd love to see that again.

JR

[javadog]

One more thing... Vettel and his donuts. After doing them in the last race and getting reprimanded and fined for it, he does it again, in a way that circumvents the rules transgressions form the first time. So he's legal, assuming he had enough fuel left for the post-race sample, and he gets to say F*** you to the FIA.

Still a little kid. One of the reasons I don't respect him as much as others do.

JR

[livi]

In this day and age I did not Think it would be possible for a team to be so devastatingly ahead of the rest.

[Iciclehead]

....most boring race ever. Won't even bother recording the next one....

I'll never say Vettel is anything but an excellent driver, but clearly it is a mastery of rules engineering that gave him a fine car that suits him well....and he does make the most of it.

If I were there I would boo, not because of Vettel because of the situation F1 is in where tires designed to degrade form the basis of winning or losing. It devalues whatever accomplishment that Vettel has made.

Sigh

Dennis

[Henry Schmidt]

Sabastian Vettel out scored the entire Red Bull team ( Webber, Coulthard and Newey) in an STR in 2008. Car or driver?

The worrying thing for Vettel's rivals is that he is only going to get stronger, says BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard



Andrew benson
Sebastian Vettel - without doubt an all-time F1 great


Newey-designed cars have won countless titles down the years and been driven by the likes of Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen, and Newey believes Vettel has earned his place in the very top bracket.

"His driving has gone from very talented but slightly raw at times, let's say in 2009, to incredibly well-rounded now," Newey

"He's going to continue to develop, although it's difficult to see how he can develop relative to this season, but no doubt he will." Newey

The thought /statement that anyone could win in a Newey car is poo pood by Newey himself saying that that kind of conjecture is only speculation and wishful thinking founded in fan based bias.

[Henry Schmidt]

I think the announcers hit the nail on the head when they stated (during the race today) that Newey is the master at building a car to suit an incredible driver.

Much like when Shumi was on top and the teams had spare cars, there was a lot of comment about no one being able to drive Shumis car set up like he does.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Henry Schmidt

I think the announcers hit the nail on the head when they stated (during the race today) that Newey is the master at building a car to suit an incredible driver.

Much like when Shumi was on top and the teams had spare cars, there was a lot of comment about no one being able to drive Shumis car set up like he does.

I think Force India, with very little budget, is doing the same for Paul di Resta. Building a car to suit the driving style of a particular driver and getting very good results. (No one babies his tires like PdR, not even Jensen Button. Is it the car, is it the driver, or a combination?

[Henry Schmidt]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I think Force India, with very little budget, is doing the same for Paul di Resta. Building a car to suit the driving style of a particular driver and getting very good results. (No one babies his tires like PdR, not even Jensen Button. Is it the car, is it the driver, or a combination?

Speaking of budgets:
Why would F1 only pay money (most of which goes to the top teams) to the top ten teams instead of all the teams on the grid?
Wouldn't it make sense to help fund the lower teams with the expectation of a better show? Better show = higher revenues, meaning more money for everyone...............

[911SauCy]

Please keep updates coming. I cashed in my Caffeine and Carburetors permission slip this morning for time hanging around the cigar shop with buddies watching F1.

Building baby crib #2 now with my gorgeous wife