Archive for August, 2010
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
Ferrari are to conduct one of their permitted straight-line aerodynamic tests at Vairano following their “unsatisfactory” performance at Spa.
The team said in a statement that the new parts introduced in Spa had not performed as expected and would get a ‘real-world’ test ahead of their home Grand Prix at Monza next week:
One can never count on new solutions that have never been track-tested before immediately delivering results: that has been the case several times this year for all the teams. On top of that, the changeable weather during Friday’s free practice certainly did not make the job any easier for the engineers.
With this in mind, as well as in order to test the aerodynamic configuration to be used in the Italian Grand Prix, there will an aero test at the Vairano straight over the next few days. After the debrief, [Luca di] Montezemolo had a meeting with team principal Stefano Domenicali, as well has having lengthy telephone conversations with Felipe and Fernando.
Giancarlo Fisichella drove one of the team’s cars when it ran at Vairano earlier in the year while developing its version of the F-duct.
Read more: Ferrari test F-duct and new aero at Vairano
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
Which driver did the best job during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend?
See below for my pick of the best drivers in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Review each driver’s race weekend in detail below and vote for who you thought was the most impressive driver.
For your consideration
Here are some of the drivers who impressed me during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend:
Lewis Hamilton – Always seemed to get a bit more out of the car in the wet conditions than anyone else.
Mark Webber – Stayed cool after a poor start, put a handy pass on Massa and kept the pressure on Kubica.
Robert Kubica – Revelled in the updated Renault and was unlucky to miss out on a front row start.
Adrian Sutil – Passes on Kobayashi, Schumacher and Rosberg set him up for a season-best-equalling fifth.
Nico Rosberg – Used his wet set-up to great effect to pass Schumacher and Kobayashi at the final restart.
Compare all the drivers
You can review what happened to each driver in the race and compare their race data with their team mates using the links below:
McLaren: Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes: Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher
Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa
Williams: Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hülkenberg
Renault: Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov
Force India: Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari
Lotus: Jarno Trulli and Heikki Koalainen
HRT: Sakon Yamamoto and Bruno Senna
Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa
Virgin: Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen
Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver impressed you the most in the Belgian Grand Prix weekend? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
Hungarian Grand Prix result
Mark Webber was voted the best driver of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
There may have been a four-week break between Hungary and Belgium but the result was much the same for the two Red Bull drivers. Mark Webber grabbed every point available while Sebastian Vettel threw them away.
But the team did not enjoy anything like the performance advantage they had in Hungary. That could have been down to the circuit suiting their car less well, the new front wing stiffness test introduced for this round, or both.
|
Sebastian Vettel |
Mark Webber |
| Qualifying position |
4 |
1 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q3) |
1′46.127 (+0.349) |
1′45.778 |
| Race position |
15 |
2 |
| Average race lap |
2′04.887 (+3.391) |
2′01.496 |
| Laps |
43/44 |
44/44 |
| Pit stops |
5 |
2 |
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Sebastian Vettel
Vettel had a scare in final practice when his car came to a halt in the pit lane and he had to be pushed in by his mechanics. He took fourth on the grid and admitted his first run in qualifying “wasn’t good enough” before being caught out by the rain.
He moved up to third in the opening laps, taking advantage of a small mistake by Robert Kubica at the restart to pass the Renault.
That brought him up behind Jenson Button, who was struggling with a damaged front wing. Vettel attacked him at the chicane on lap 16, but lost control and hit the McLaren.
As F1 Novice pointed out in the comments elsewhere, the front wing on his RB6 was flexing considerably in the turbulent air behind Button’s car as Vettel went into a skid (at 0:50 in the video below):
If that contributed to Vettel’s loss of control, the team weren’t saying. Here’s Christian Horner’s explanation for the crash:
I think Jenson took him by surprise with how early he braked for the bus-stop and trying to avoid him Sebastian got into a bit of a moment and collected Jenson. He was then unlucky with Liuzzi, so not a great weekend for Sebastian.
Christian Horner
Whatever the cause, this the latest in a string of costly mistakes by Vettel. As well as the time lost in the pits the stewards hit him with a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable accident.
Now behind Vitantonio Liuzzi, he managed to pass the Force India driver at the chicane. But Liuzzi clipped Vettel as he went by (much as he did to Fernando Alonso at Silverstone), causing a left-rear puncture and a long, slow drive to the pits for a replacement.
His race now ruined, Vettel gambled on full wet tyres when rain began to fall at the end. But even that backfired and he had to make a fifth visit to the pits for a second set of wet weather tyres.
Compare Sebastian Vettel’s form against his team mate in 2010
Mark Webber
Took his fifth pole position of the year by getting a good lap in before the worst of the rain hit the track in Q3.
Both RB6 drivers found their car especially strong in the middle sector, as was expected, the pair at least three tenths of a second faster than everyone else in the dry.
Webber made a bad start and fell to seventh behind Adrian Sutil, but the Force India driver went too deep into Les Combes on lap one, allowing to take the place back. Then he picked off Felipe Massa around the outside of Rivage – a highly unlikely passing place – on the second lap.
I had a big bog (down) on my formation lap and then we made a small adjustment to the clutch which I thought was hopefully going to get rid of that situation but then I had it even worse on the main start itself. Did my normal procedure but in the end you need to go through it to see what happened. Obviously I was pretty surprised and once you have a micro moment on the start in a Formula One race it is massively exaggerated with the performance of the other guys getting normal starts.
Mark Webber
Webber spent a long period of the race tucked up behind Robert Kubica. His team made a concerted effort to jump him ahead at the first round of pit stops – bringing him in a lap before Kubica and giving Webber the fastest pit stop of the race – but it wasn’t quite enough. Webber chased Kubica down the Kemmel straight on lap 24 but couldn’t quite make it pass.
Kubica finally slipped up when he made his second pit stop, allowing Webber into second. But he couldn’t do anything about Lewis Hamilton, who took the championship lead off him by three points.
Compare Mark Webber’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
Image (C) Red Bull/Getty images
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
Fernando Alonso was tipped for victory after topping both practice sessions on Friday.
But Ferrari’s pace seemed to desert them on Saturday morning. And, as far as the drivers’ championship is concerned, it was the ‘wrong’ driver who brought home points.
|
Felipe Massa |
Fernando Alonso |
| Qualifying position |
6 |
10 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q3) |
1′46.314 (-1.127) |
1′47.441 |
| Race position |
4 |
|
| Average race lap |
2′01.648 (+3.268) |
1′58.381 |
| Laps |
44/44 |
37/44 |
| Pit stops |
2 |
3 |
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Felipe Massa
Looked slower than his team mate in practice but beat him in Q3 for the first time since Bahrain. That was despite a mistake at Malmedy on his final timed lap.
He passed the slow-starting Mark Webber as the race began but the Red Bull driver went around the outside of him at Rivage on the second lap.
From there on Massa’s race was largely uneventful. His biggest drama came when he lost 2.6 seconds when he was unable to lap Heikki Kovalainen because of a yellow flag.
He gradually slipped back from Webber – particularly after stopping to change to hard tyres – and came home fourth with Adrian Sutil less than a second behind.
Despite Ferrari’s form on Friday, Massa believed they were only the third-quickest team in Spa:
This weekend, Red Bull and McLaren were stronger than us, but we worked well as a team, making the right choices before and during the race. Our set-up was a bit more efficient in the dry, while we suffered a bit in the wet, especially in the middle sector, while in the first two we were reasonably competitive.
Felipe Massa
Compare Felipe Massa’s form against his team mate in 2010
Fernando Alonso
Topped both Friday sessions but on Saturday morning the Ferraris had slipped behind the Red Bulls and McLarens. It got worse in qualifying, where Alonso could only manage tenth.
There were rumours he’d gambled on a set-up for wet weather. If so, that would have put him at risk if not enough rain fell during the race and his compromised grid position left him vulnerable to a first-lap crash. In the event, both things happened.
He made a good start and passed both Williams drivers. But he probably wished he hadn’t when Rubens Barrichello lost control and hit him at the chicane. Although the impact was great enough to tear a wheel off the Williams, Alonso’s F10 was, remarkably, able to keep going.
He took the opportunity to try intermediate tyres but quickly discarded them as it became clear the track was drying. After picking off the new teams’ cars it took him a few laps longer to get past the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Alonso made it as far as eighth when the final rain shower caught him out and he spun into the barriers between Malmedy and Rivage. Afterwards he rued the late arrival of the rain, without which he stood a chance of inheriting places from the Mercedes drivers:
Yesterday we were hoping for rain, but when it came it was already too late to be of much use to me; on the contrary it prevented me from getting the chance to overtake the cars which would have had to stop to fit the soft tyres.
Fernando Alonso
Compare Fernando Alonso’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
Image (C) Ferrari spa
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
Having been miles off the pace in Hungary, McLaren were back in contention for victory in Spa.
Hamilton showed a great touch in the damp conditions most of the time – especially at the start of Q2. But he nearly lost his win when he went off at Rivage near the end of the race.
Button was less fortunate in his collision with Sebastian Vettel, which ended his race and McLaren’s hopes of a one-two.
|
Jenson Button |
Lewis Hamilton |
| Qualifying position |
5 |
2 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q3) |
1′46.206 (+0.343) |
1′45.863 |
| Race position |
|
1 |
| Average race lap |
2′00.639 (-0.821) |
2′01.461 |
| Laps |
15/44 |
44/44 |
| Pit stops |
0 |
2 |
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Jenson Button
Button passed Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber on the first lap to run third. Vettel and Felipe Massa then passed him in the mayhem at the chicane at the end of lap one but were re-taken by Button as the second lap began.
Robert Kubica then went off at the top of Eau Rouge, allowing Button into second behind his team mate.
But he’d picked up some front wing damage and after the restart he was unable to keep up with Hamilton. Gradually a train of cars built up behind him, headed by Vettel.
On lap 16, Vettel lost control of his car at the chicane and hit Button’s radiator, ending his race. It was the first time Button had failed to score since Monaco, and leaves him 35 points behind his team mate in the world championship.
Compare Jenson Button’s form against his team mate in 2010
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton looked a likely candidate for pole position but could only manage fourth fastest time with his first effort in Q3. He’d saved a new set of soft tyres for his final run, but reckoned without a brief shower on part of the circuit. Nonetheless he did enough to take second place, one-tenth of a second slower than Webber.
He went straight into the lead at the start and survived a couple of rain-induced scares during the race. He went straight on at the chicane at the end of lap one and continued – as did many others.
But he avoided a brush with disaster when he went off at Rivage on lap 35 as the rain started to come down more heavily. There were shades of Shanghai 2007 as the McLaren crawled through the gravel and brushed a barrier – only this time he climbed out of it and back onto the track:
The biggest moment was later on in turn eight. I made it all the way out to the wall and just clipped it a little bit with the edge of my wing. Fortunately not the whole car but very fortunate to get away with that. It was so slippery out there. There is nothing you can do. Obviously you tip-toe around. I felt I was braking quite early, but the thing just did not want to stop and locked the wheel and I was gone.
Lewis Hamilton
That moment eroded the 11-second lead he’d built up ahead of his slow team mate earlier in the race, and preserved after Button had gone out. He stayed ahead at the restart and edged away from second-placed man Webber to win and re-take the championship lead.
Compare Lewis Hamilton’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
Image (C) www.mclaren.com
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
Robert Kubica was very happy with Renault’s F-duct upgrade and finished on the podium for the third time this year.
Without minor problems in qualifying and the race this was a Grand Prix Renault could have won.
Team mate Vitaly Petrov joined him in the points despite a costly crash in qualifying that left him on the back row.
|
Robert Kubica |
Vitaly Petrov |
| Qualifying position |
3 |
23 |
| Qualifying time comparison (None) |
|
Team mate no time |
| Race position |
3 |
9 |
| Average race lap |
2′01.540 (-0.463) |
2′02.003 |
| Laps |
44/44 |
44/44 |
| Pit stops |
2 |
2 |
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Robert Kubica
Renault said their new F-duct worked exactly as expected from the first moment they used it in practice. Kubica qualified third and could have been on the front had a fuel pick-up problem not delayed him in Q3.
As the rain started to fall at the start of the race Kubica made a mistake at Eau Rouge, allowing Jenson Button by into second place. Sebastian Vettel also passed him at the restart, but after the pair collided Kubica was back in second.
He apologised to the team for losing that place after hitting his pit crew during his final pit stop:
I don’t think anyone thought we could be so competitive here. We were in the top five in all conditions in every single session. Today we have seen good pace.
Unfortunately we lost second place due to my mistake. I got distracted in the pit lane. In order to change tyres we have to adjust the front wing, change some settings on the steering wheel. I couldn’t do it on the race track because it was so slippery, so I had to do it in the pit lane before stopping and unfortunately there wasn’t enough time and when I managed to change everything it was quite late to brake and I locked the front wheels and unfortunately I didn’t manage to get into my pit box. I went wide, went to the right, hit some guys, mechanics but fortunately they are fine and lost second place there.
It was a very tricky race but we’ve seen very good pace. Started third, managed to finish third, of course thanks to some bad luck and good luck, but it was a good place.
Robert Kubica
Compare Robert Kubica’s form against his team mate in 2010
Vitaly Petrov
Qualified last after crashing in Q1 by getting onto a wet kerb at turn nine – a repeat of a mistake he made in Spain earlier this year. Pedro de la Rosa’s engine change penalty promoted Petrov to 23rd.
Petrov made up for it with a mature, error-free drive through the field to ninth place in difficult conditions. He avoided the trouble at the start to run 11th and put a bold pass on Nico Rosberg around the outside of Les Combes.
Having started on the soft tyres he had to make a pit stop which meant he finished behind the Mercedes drivers in the end.
Compare Vitaly Petrov’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
Image (C) Renault/LAT
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
|
Adrian Sutil |
Vitantonio Liuzzi |
| Qualifying position |
8 |
12 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q2) |
1′47.292 (-1.388) |
1′48.680 |
| Race position |
5 |
10 |
| Average race lap |
2′01.667 (-0.585) |
2′02.252 |
| Laps |
44/44 |
44/44 |
| Pit stops |
2 |
4 |
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Adrian Sutil
There was no repeat of their 2009 pole position for Force India – Sutil was their highest qualifier in eighth.
He passed Nico Hülkenberg for seventh after the first safety car period and pitted on lap 21 to preserve his lead over the recovering Fernando Alonso. His lap times on the soft tyres had also dropped off slightly before then.
After his pit stop he used his fresher tyres and the VJM03’s excellent straight-line speed at the exit of Eau Rouge to pass Kamui Kobayashi, Rosberg and Schumacher on consecutive laps.
Now fifth, he pitted for intermediates on lap 34 while the leading quartet stayed out one more lap. He spent the closing stages of the race hunting Felipe Massa’s Ferrari for fourth place.
Sutil pronounced himself satisfied with his fifth place, matching his best result of the year so far, saying: “I think that was the best we could do”
Compare Adrian Sutil’s form against his team mate in 2010
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Team manager Andy Stevenson said the team had trouble getting Liuzzi’s car to work as well in a straight line as his team mate’s:
We’ve had some issues trying to identify why his car is lacking top speed. Each week we seem to find something we can improve his lap time with. And it happened here again – on Friday he was really struggling with top speed and on Saturday it wasn’t an issue. We identified several areas which helped improve it and I think that showed today.
Andy Stevenson
In the race Liuzzi pitted early on lap ten to cover Alonso but could only keep the Ferrari driver behind for a couple of laps. He was back in the pits on lap 25 having damaged his front wing on Vettel’s car after the Red Bull driver passed him.
Liuzzi pitted twice as the rain began at the end of the race, ending up on the full wet weather tyre. He rose to 11th when Pedro de la Rosa spun and Jaime Alguersuari’s penalty handed Liuzzi his first point since Canada.
Compare Vitantonio Liuzzi’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
Despite starting from what was by far their worst grid positions of the year – 14th and 21st – the Mercedes duo scored 14 points.
|
Michael Schumacher |
Nico Rosberg |
| Qualifying position |
21 |
14 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q2) |
1′47.874 (-0.011) |
1′47.885 |
| Race position |
7 |
6 |
| Average race lap |
2′01.814 (+0.072) |
2′01.742 |
| Laps |
44/44 |
44/44 |
| Pit stops |
1 |
1 |
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Michael Schumacher
Felt he could have got into the top ten in qualifying but caught traffic in Q2. His ten-place grid penalty from Hungary dropped him to 21st.
He was up to 12th after the safety car came in and, having started on hard tyres, stayed out while other drivers pitted or ran into trouble. Schumacher pounced on his team mate while Rosberg was battling Vitaly Petrov, sweeping by to take tenth place.
He got up to fourth at one point before being passed by Adrian Sutil – Schumacher defending his position rather less firmly than he did at the Hungaroring.
On lap 34 he made his sole pit stop, switching to intermediate tyres as the worst of the rain arrived. Rosberg returned the favour at Les Combes after the final restart, edging Schumacher onto the grass
I ‘met’ Nico twice out on the track today. The first time, I had the better go in a nice racing duel and the second time was right after the re-start where I had to lift a little up into Eau Rouge due to the car in front which Nico used to fly past me. All in all, Spa turned out to be nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped for.
Compare Michael Schumacher’s form against his team mate in 2010
Nico Rosberg
Had to change his gearbox after final practice meaning he got a five-place grid penalty. But, due to other drivers collecting grid penalties, he only dropped from 12th to 14th.
Rosberg ran a set-up geared towards wet conditions on his car and he made good use of it at the final restart, passing Kamui Kobayashi and his team mate to finish sixth. Like Schumacher, he only made a single stop, switching from hard to intermediate tyres.
Compare Nico Rosberg’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Belgian Grand Prix
Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh has gotten kind of lippy this year with his suggestive trash talk about flexi wings, diffusers and people. While normally he has refrained from the hair-pulling and name-calling, Whitmarsh feels obliged to bask in the glow of controversy with some words not all to unlike his boss Ron Dennis. What good is [...]
By Mikel
August 31st, 2010 at 08:55am
Under Racing
Ultimately many fans can be forgiven for equating Germany’s Sebastian Vettel to the veteran countryman Michael Schumacher. He is young, quick and German and so was Schumacher at one time in his career. That combination didn’t do too bad for Schumacher did it? The accolades and comparisons have always made Vettel a little uncomfortable but [...]
By Mikel
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