2011 Formula 1 Season

[*Shinzon*]

Saw the race today, and it just looks like Vettle and Webber have their cars really dialed in. The RB team has just done a great job with the cars and it's probably unlikely that anyone will catch up soon. Kobyashi did some real nice work working his way down though. Was impressed.

[Eliseos]

Yeah, was a bit disappointed McLaren didn't give much of a challenge. Hamilton was pretty much out of it after the first lap on turn three when he went off, and then with his second pit stop that took over 30 seconds took him out of podium contention. Button had a chance at the podium, but it seemed the tire strategy they tried backfired on the last laps, and had to give up lots of position.

Was impressed with Kobayashi as well. Was reading post-race interviews and he said he could have gone as high as second if he didn't have that front wing damage and had to pit. Mercedes also had a strong showing, Rosberg drove well for most of the race, but it seems his tire performance dropped off near the end as well. His Schumacherness would have had a better position had he not had those few incidents in the last couple corners.

Surprising to see Barichello drop so low, was hoping he'd place high enough for constructor's points at least, with the week him and his team had. Maldonado had a terrible weekend as well.

[Eliseos]

Bahrain back on, FIA just voted on it. This means the season won't end until December 11, since they pushed back India to make room for this race. The FIA heads pretty much ignored all the drivers, and teams who will have pretty much no downtime between the end and when winter practice starts back up in January.

[Cesaria]

Dunno why - I just haven't got into this year's F1 like other years (yes I've been known in the past to get up at midnight to watch the long timezone races)... first one I've actually watched start to finish this year was Monaco - fucking shame about the red flag and the restart cos I would have loved to see how that had panned out with the tyre wear issues if it had gone straight through.

[Eliseos]

Yeah, that red pretty much guaranteed vettel's victory, especially at a difficult to pass place like Monaco. Would have made an already spectacular race all the more thrilling.

And I feel like this year's GP's have been exciting for the most part, with the exception of maybe Australia.

Canada should show a different field vying for first as the RB7 hasn't shown the prowess in the straights as some other vehicles. Hopefully some of the other teams give red bull a chase like the past few races. Will be interesting for sure with two DRS zones in Montreal.

Felt bad for Hamilton in Monaco. He got unlucky being stuck after Pérez's crash during qualifying that stopped everything dir 30 minutes. Then he has to be very aggresive trying to overtake and causes those two crashes. I have a friendly bet with another who watches f1, he has vettel, I have Hamilton. My $5 needs hamilton to start winning!

[Diamicles]

Ok, it's been a waaaay too long since I posted in this thread, and lots of shit has happened since then.

We've actually seen a couple of race winners not named Sebastian Vettel, which is a nice change of pace. The blown diffusers were banned - although only for one race - for the British GP, then reinstated as the 'Valencia Rules' which the teams will be running with for the rest of the season.

Red Bull's qualifying pace is still pretty fast, but Ferrari seems to be closing the gap. McLaren should regain some speed with the reinstatement of the blown diffusers for the rest of the season. They really looked like they lacked downforce compared to Ferrari and Red Bull last weekend. Renault looked pretty weak without the aid of the blown diffuser. Mercedes, Williams, Force India, and Sauber all looked a little faster, but Toro Rosso looked to make the most improvement without the additional downforce aid. Will these teams be able to step up and push the top teams with the blown diffusers reinstated for the remainder of the season?

In terms of drivers, Massa, DiResta, and Kobayashi have all performed fairly well lately. I'd like to see all three of them build on their recent good finishes.

[*Shinzon*]

Rumors are that Webber may be replaced by Kimi Raikkonen after disobeying the order to back off of Vettle. Dunno if they'll make a change this year but I think Webber has worn out his welcome.

[Diamicles]

Rumors are that Webber may be replaced by Kimi Raikkonen after disobeying the order to back off of Vettle. Dunno if they'll make a change this year but I think Webber has worn out his welcome.

from what I have read, Webber and Christian Horner sat down and had a talk about that, and they are on the same page. Personally, I don't think it would be a good idea to replace a very good driver in Webber with someone who has been out of Formula 1 car for years. Of course, Webber will retire eventually, but he has stated (as well as Horner) that he plans to be with Red Bull through 2012.

[Shadowscythe]

I'm not surprised he got the orders to hold the gap given what happened last year, but imo team orders ruin it for both the fans and the drivers. They need to accept sometimes team mates do need to overtake each other, and sometimes incidents might happen.

As for drivers returning I believe Kubica is on track for a 2012 return too.