2010 Chinese Grand Prix (April 16 - 18)

[pimento]

Ya, Petrov was doing well until that spin.. he's showing a good foundation of talent to build on. Algey showed some balls too, but I'm still not certain that he'll grow into them. We'll have to see I guess.

[faksta]

God, finally! Three DNFs and finally the chequered flag, in such a good style - battling with Schumacher and Webber and being 2-3 seconds a lap faster than nearly anyone in front... Damn, that's even more than I was hoping for.

Very happy for Button. He has once more shown that he was not an eventual winner of last year's championship. Alonso and especially Hamilton showed them as...erm.. pricks, sorry those who follow them. And of course good race for Rosberg. Second podium in a row, second place in a general classification. I knew this guy had future when Williams hired him, but thought that his chance was lost after all these years. It appears not. well done, Nico.

[LeonOfTheDead]

Not even bothering watching F1 as of now, not at 9 am that's for sure.

[Ferrer]

Not even bothering watching F1 as of now, not at 9 am that's for sure.

They don't repeat it later on?

Good racing, but I agree with Pieter.

[torque55]

i think it was a good race overall. Hamilton was quite impressive today, and Schumi was very dissapointing. I wonder if he will ever show the talent that he used to have ??

Or are the cars very different than those of 06 ??

Alonso And Massa in the pits is reminding me of 07 with Hamilton.

[Commodore GS/E]

Torque, the cars of '10 are significantly slower than the old ones. The first thing Schumi said when he first drove the Merc was that the car was disappointingly slow compared to his (old) Ferrari. The FIA has made so many regulations to the teams since then which make the cars slower. Then you have to add the point that tanking during the race is forbidden (also total nonsens). And there are the aerodynamic changes... i think those are quite obvious.

The only thing that made me a little sad was Vettels rather bad race. I know he could've done better than that.

Please, god of F1, bring the good ol' days back

[Matra et Alpine]

god of F1, bring the good ol' days back

ah, but which "days" were those ?
60s with no aero ...... lots of drivers died
70s with aero ... good drivers died
80s with turbos .... good drivers died

Me ? I'm an engine man SO either the unreliable 60s and BRM 16 etc etc or better the 70s with Cosworth V8, Ferrari flat 12, Matra V12.
LOVED the turbo's but they lacked variation.

So the 70s it is

[Commodore GS/E]

what i ment were the times before all those regulations began to make F1 utterly boring. I mean if you look at today's regulations, nearly everything is forbidden now. No V10s, no V6s, no V12s, no turbos, clearly defined aerodynamics and so on. I really liked the 90s F1 series. The series declined a lot in the last 10 years.

EDIT: i liked the BRM V16 most. It may have been utterly unreliable, but the sound... *drools*

[LeonOfTheDead]

Just knew about the Vettel-Hamilton affair. Don't know if that's the case, but I think Hamilton is "interpreting" the rules a bit too much.

BEWARE of the loud music.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0IdLYxorq4]YouTube - F1 China 2010 Hamilton and Vettel[/ame]

If there is a white line delimiting the track, perhaps there is a reason, which is about the same why he almost drove on the grass.
Saying it was only racing and not dangerous after the race is also a bit pointless after he almost spun in the pitlane, albeit a very large one.
Getting just a reprimand this time as well is the best of them all, looking forward for the next silly action on his side.

[TheScrutineer]

The most dangerous part of that manouver was Hamilton being squeezed into the direction of the garages. Hamilton's car was not released at a good moment, but Vettel's squeezing could have been serious.

[csl177]

Sorry, I like Hamilton but the sporting regs are clear. Vettle was not at fault, the pit lane rules call for single-file entry and exit. Hamilton should be disciplined for his actions at both pit in and on pit lane. Should the stewards fail to do so just encourages further dangerous behaviour.

[Matra et Alpine]

Hamilton should get a serious reprimand for that.
The pit LANE was Vettel's
You are required to allow car to pass and take up position behind them.
Hamilton's arrogance at suggesting he didnt' do anything wrong is unacceptable.

Conjecture that Vettel could/should have given ground are dangerous on two fronts.
One, it lets an aggresive driver away with an illegal maneouvre.
Secondly, if Vettel DOES move over and then Hamilton had followed suit, then how far shoudl Vettle move ? Till HE hits the wall ? Or is forced to slow down before being pushed into the wall ?? Vettel can't read Hamilton's mind and it was NOT his place to do so. Hamilton was NOT released into the lane AHEAD of Vettel and thus should have dropped in behind.

I like(d) Hamilton as a driver, BUT he is showing an extraordinary arrogance that the F1 admin MUST take action over before we have accidents as we used to with Prost/Senna etc etc

EDIT: Kind of long-winded "what csl said"

[Matra et Alpine]

FFS. this is pathetic.

BBC Sport - F1 - Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel given FIA reprimand

BOTH reprimanded !
WTF did they think Vettel was supposed to do ?
This is pathetic and now I just feel the sooner Button becomes dominant driver in the team and Hamilton learns some humility, teamwork and track etiquette the better. ( and I don't perticualrly LIKE Button )

[LTSmash]

WTF did they think Vettel was supposed to do ?

Well, I agree with decision for Hamilton. I like him, but this can't be happening in the pits. I can see what the reasoning with Vettel though. From the video is you can see Vettel tightening in on Hamilton pushing him closer into the pit mechanics. Hamilton should have slowed down and let him pass (Vettel was first out of the pits and he still go him anyway; wasted maneuver in the pits), and if he didn't Vettel shouldn't have moved to the right with Hamilton on his side.

Cars race on the track, mechanics race in the pits... it's not the other way around.

[LeonOfTheDead]

I can see what Vettel was doing... Vendetta, which is exactly the reason why Hamilton is to blame, I'd say.

First Hamilton did the weaving thing in frnot of Petrov, and he got nothing to deal with.
So this just let him think he can do something similar again, and here we go.
So Vettel is already one of those calling for a penalty regarding the previous race, now Hamilton did something else in front of him overtaking him where he shouldn't, so Vettel is not only loosing one spot but also getting pissed, and he reacts.

Wrong way to react, that's for sure, but probably a consequence of what Hamilton keeps doing. I think Vettel just wanted Hamilton to slow down and stay behind, still dangerous as those are the pits, not even the track.

I thought that Hamilton would have become more serious after a year loosing (almost) everything, as it happened with other drivers, from Schumacher (well, not exactly Mr Humility) to Alonso. Apparently this is not the case.