Michael Schumacher Back for another season

[smythie]

well it has finally started. Vettel on pole for the race tonight. Massa back where he should be - great to see him running fast. Webeer screwing up as usual. Qualified 6th but probably should have been 2 or 3 places further up. Sutil the only guy in the top 10 to qualify on the hard tyres could be a bit of a dark horse for a top 5 I reckon.

9 hours to go

[sundayDriver]

Waiting for tonight....

From first impressions, Vettel could win the drivers championship. Deservedly so. if massa wins it, that'd be good too.

I missed qualifying, don't know if they have to do it on race loads or not. each car should be fuelled for the race +1 lap, so no excuses.

[smythie]

For 2010 (and until they change their minds again), qualifying is low fuel again. The tyres that the top 10 cars (which make their way into the Q3 section of qualifying) qualify on are the tyres that they must start the race on.

There is no refuelling this year so they will start with full fuel cells (which are now in the region of 35% larger than last year, though they rarely filled them up last year). The drivers are complaining that the tyres are going off in a big hurry as a result too.

One other thing, like last year, there are two compounds of tyres every weekend and each driver must use both compounds during the race. They can qualify on soft tyres but have to deal with a heavy car (in the region of 20% heavier than the minimum weight) on the less durable tyre or qualify on the hard tyres to have a better chance of lasting a bit further into the race before they have to stop for new tyres. Red Bull have managed to change tyres in less than 2 seconds during pre-season testing

[jdm rsk]

5th not to bad...also was that a boring race? Hope it gets better.. BrIng moto GP before I go cold turkey

[senator]

5th not to bad...also was that a boring race? Hope it gets better.. BrIng moto GP before I go cold turkey

Gotta agree, I think the new rules are forcing the drivers to be too concentrative….. Hence the boring race.

[smythie]

A lot of people are suggesting that the tyres being so durable (enough that the prime tyre last night could possibly have gone the whole race) was a factor. I reckon the aerodynamics was also a huge factor. Drivers not being able to get close and maintain good aero grip to give them a chance.

[sundayDriver]

Mark webber has agreed.

I watched 1/2 the race and was glad to find out the next morning that I hadn't missed anything.

not worth the effort to stay up if it's going to be decided on sat.

[blacknwhite]

I think short of ditching all the aero aids to help overtaking you are not going to improve the spectacle of the race
If you ditch the aero you have just bastardized the whole concept of F1, ie the pinnacle of design and engineering to produce the fastest cars possible to get round a circuit
While I was always wary of the refueling as I saw it of a way to arificially increase the closeness of racing I thought last year with the qualifying scenario of light fuel/early pit stop or heavy fuel less pit stops and the permutations of tyres etc was fascinating but only to the diehards to a casual observer no
I think last year was about the most interesting format they have had for years, this year ,even for an F1 nut like me I am going to struggle to watch this under the current regs and format, which is a shame because I think under last year's rules there could be a season with a genuine 6 or 7 potential winners
I can just imagine Bernie banging away on the phone Sunday night screaming at people to" fix this shit and pronto" dont think it will take long for the boom to fall and then we will have the normal whinging from any team who the adjusted format does not favour.........

[Posseltperformance]

Crap rule changes Bernie - you suck. How much did lap times go off through the race from Qually to the last lap was it 7 seconds? Thats not racing....

Disappointed

[smythie]

The final laps weren't too bad. The first couple though... Vettel's second lap (first flying lap) was in the order of 8 seconds slower than his pole time

[sundayDriver]

it seems that everyone agrees (BBC article quoting drivers) that the first 2010 race was zzzzzzz boring.

but they will not change it for at least a couple of races.

maybe bridgestone can bring out really soft tires that only last 1/3 of a race, and for next year, instead of banning refuelling, limit the size of the fuel tank.

[Posseltperformance]

If Bridgestone bring in really soft tyres that would be great because they would generate uber grip and encourage more passing as well as forcing pit stops

[smythie]

good point. Anything that will help provide more mechanical grip than aero grip must be good for the series as a "show"

[sundayDriver]

What a race! amazing what a few drop of rain can do.

too bad for vettel. 2 strikes out of two. red bull are going to lose it for him again if they don't pick up their game.

[Posseltperformance]

Yeah this race was much more interesting - but again the passing difficulty from aero disruption is a problem. Hamilton and Webber were catching Kubica and the ferraris at 2 - 4 seconds per lap. That is a serious speed difference and yet neither could get past. It was always going to end in a crash - Alonso invented the widest ferrari ever seen. The incident was caused by multiple factors:
1. Alonso locking up and as a result
2. Forcing Hamilton to duck unexpectedly from the outside line to inside line
3. Lack of foresight from Webber to position his car in a spot where he could avoid the ensuring mess.
4. The front of the Redbull loosing aero completely when it was immediately behind the Mclaren, Lifting the nose and reducing brake efficiency.

Both drivers were lucky not to get stuck in the gravel trap.

Great drive from Alonso after being turned around in turn 1. How about that crash at turn 3 on lap 1. Sauber breaking front wings left right and center - me thinks that engineer is going to be fired.