LOL. At this rate, I'm expecting your next argument to be along the lines of "I'm like rubber, you're like glue....." It's really not about being a fan boy, or rooting for a certain team. Nobody's suggesting that you shouldn't be supporting Sauber. However, when they don't even get a car into Q3, and more importantly, they barely score points at every race, then nobody really cares to hear about their results. A team that is currently 7th in the constructor's standings with no chance of race wins, let alone an extreme unlikelihood that they'll even get to sniff the podium, should not be a consistent and regular discussion topic in the F1 thread when you have 5 teams at the top that all have a car that's capable of winning a race on any given Sunday.

Dry? How quickly you forget.......

"The race started on a damp track after a shower of rain, with most drivers on the 'intermediate' tyres with relatively light treads. But heavy rain started on lap two, and Perez immediately dived into the pits to fit full wet tyres. It worked to the Mexican's favour. As the leading drivers pitted for wet tyres on laps four and five, he moved up the field and was lying third behind the two McLarens of Hamilton and Button when the race was stopped on lap six...."

 

^"Sauber irrelevant"...say what!?...another podium and both cars in the points...still "irrelevant" GG ?...ahead of Merc, Ferrari, Williams and Force India and also rans including Kimi although Grojean finally stayed out of trouble and came through...dry as the Sahara today, i.e., no rain, perfect conditions and yet poooddddiiiummmm and points for Sauber...God I hate it when I'm right!!!

Later, Ken

 

Yes, still very irrelevent. The results you're so excited about moved them from 7th in the constructor standings all the way up to 6th.

I haven't had a chance to watch the race yet, but I'll take your word for it that it was dry.....even with the evidence above of your poor memory. So...it sounds like Perez definitely proved me wrong today. I'm sure he drove the hell out of the car. You'd almost think that Ferrari HAS to pull the trigger on the guy now that he's beaten even Fernando in one of their customer's cars, and Massa was once again well off the pace.

 

Wow, Lewis drove a superb race today. For a moment, I thought that Alonso might be able to keep his tires going until the end. Not sure why Ferrari went with a 1 stop. Even stopping late in the race, Seb was able to pass Alonso. Great results for Crash Grosjean as well as Perez. I am really sad for Schumi and Button. Schumi's bad luck just continues on and Button can't seem to come to grips with either his car, the tires or both. Nobody seems to have an edge on performance. 7 races and 7 winners. McLaren, RB and Ferrari still are the top 3 teams though.

 

Watching the re-play now on Speed.

What the hell is this new rule, DRS is allowed if your with-in 1 sec of another car.
So if the car your chasing doesn't have anyone in front, you will have about a 10mph speed advantage on a long straight. I forsee many comunication, complaints, and issues between teams on this one considering timing is calcutated to the .001.

 

For the record, never said they had a shot at championship/constructors, just that they were podium contenders of which U dismissed...so lets B clear here: Sauber has made the podium twice, not once, and under wet/dry and now completely dry conditions contrary to UR predictions...after U watch the race and C the results, acceptance will B hard...I think I NO a shrink down UR way that may help if problems continue to raise their ugly head

Later, Ken

 

WOW what a race. things really got interesting towards the end of the race when it came to light that Alonso and Vettle might be doing a 1 stopper. I think that Ferrari and RB might have had plan A as two stopper, but then saw that the tires lasted pretty good in the race and could maintain the lead if they went with plan B for a one stopper. but then RB saw how fast Hami was with new tires, so they went with plan C and brought him in for tires at last minute and catch Alonso. that's my me thinking

poor Alonso, i was thinking the same thing is going happen to him as it did with kimi when he drop 12 position in 10 laps.

hami drove like a beast this weekend. glad to see the old Hami and McLaren back in full effect.

 

Great drive from Lewis. Pushing the entire way, he must have been pretty spent after that race. What the hell is wrong with Button, he looks worse than Massa when compared to his team mate.

Crazy podium I didn't think we would see this year,. Once again just goes to show what a crapshoot this season really is.

 

Amazing Race! Now that's what I'm talking about! That is the Hamilton of old. He dug deep and drove like a beast! Probably one of the best over-takers in F1 showed his fangs and took out the competition. Great drive and strategy! Alonso and Vettel payed dearly for trying to do the race on a 1 stopper. If only they had pitted sooner, they would've bagged 2nd and 3rd pretty easily.

Alonso must be ruing the decision to go with a 1 stopper when there were only 10-8 laps remaining. Their misfortune gave Lotus/Romain and Sauber/Perez a chance at the podium.

I don't care what the Nay sayers are saying, this is the most exciting F1 season ever! The top teams still have the best/fastest cars, however pitstop and tire strategy also gives other teams a shot. I was honestly sick of seeing all those processional F1 races where passing was next to impossible. This season has be best balance of both with limited DRS and KERS.

I have to agree with Ken, he hasn't been saying that Sauber would win the championship or anything. Just that Kobay might have a shot at the podium with Sauber this season (as demonstrated by Perez in 2 races). Tire/pitstop strategy and mess ups by the top teams, give Sauber a chance (albeit a small one).

Sauber has a couple of things going for them:
1. They have a good wet handling car.
2. The car seems to be comparatively gentle on the tires compared to other teams. Giving them longer stints.
3. "Invisible" brake ducts that helps with aero that Ferrari blatantly copied in Canada.

A couple of mess ups by the bigger teams and we may just see Kobay on the podium. Who knows?

Amazing .... simply amazing ...

Uh, have you been living under a rock?

DRS has been like that since it was 1st introduced last year. It's all computer controlled based timing lights before the DRS activation zone.

 

I disagree, I don't think its a crap shoot. It just shows that pit-stop and tire strategy can influence the results. The top teams still have the fastest cars but the margin of error for tire strategy and pit-stop is now less. They can't mess up in that area and still dominate the slower teams. The winning team needs to have a combination of all aspects or racing. Which great in my book.

 

^ could not agree more

Later, Ken

 

I really like how there are so many cars capable of running up front.

For the last several races, 1 second covers ~12 cars in Q2.

If you screw your tires up, bad stop, poor strategy choice, there are easily 10 drivers capable of displacing you & taking your position.

Ask kimi & alonso!

Im glad that hami did make a stupid decision & throw his win away when initially trying to get around alonso.

Looking forward to the next gp. Alonso will definately be a force with massa potentially be a spoiler & getting in the way.

 

The one thing that McLaren needs to work on is their pit stops. Both Hamilton and Button have been hamstrung by slow stops. Twice during the race Hamilton had balky stops, although his transmission may have been part of the problem.

I agree with grillpt that the races are still a crapshoot. Yes, the pit stops and tire management both have been significant issues, but with that said, virtually every race seems to have new people on the podium. There simply has not been any consistency by any of the drivers that is giving them an edge over the competition. Otherwise, how can one explain 7 winners in 7 races?

I guess what amazes me is how close many of the teams are. Last year, it was Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. This year, it is those 3 teams, plus Mercedes, Lotus, Williams and Sauber. And, Force India is not that far behind either. That leaves HRT, Marussia and Caterham as the only teams really struggling. The biggest surprise is the great performance by what I would call second tier teams. Nobody can predict who will win the next race as there are too many variables that can decide a race, hence the crapshoot.

 

And that's what makes it exciting What I love about this season is the constant evolution and push from the teams. Fast teams have made mistakes and squandered opportunities. Then you have teams like Ferrari that had a horrible car at the start of the season, have fought their way back to the front of the grid. Thanks to a little bit of luck, strategy and limited in season testing.

It's unpredictable because teams are making huge gambles in trying to go for the win and learning about the tires as the races progress. Eg: If Alonso and Vettel pitted immediately after Hamilton (gone for a 2 stopper) we would've had a predictable finish in Canada. But they either decided not to or decided too late. When the times are so close its the mistakes that decide the winners and the losers.

To those that think the races are a crap shoot, are you guys not enjoying the races? Would you guys rather watch the parades of the past?

I think you meant it the other way around.

 

^ oops! ur right