Of course, just looking at the qualifying positions, that statement could be applied to both Vettel and Hamilton, correct?

Perhaps the qualifying simply showed who was gambling on dry weather vs wet weather for Sunday?

 

That was a great drive.

 

According to the announcers, Webber was on the same stiff setup as Vettel. Also, the McLarens have sucked ***** in the wet this year, so it seems to prove out when both LH and HK were slow.

 

The Grand Old Man !

 

Who would have thought this season would end with so much excitement?

1/3 of the way in Button looked liked he had run away and nobody was going to challenge.

Call it wishfull thinking but I still think it will be a 3 way battle in the desert.

Win it all Rubens! ............. Make it interesting Vettel!

 

Button has 6 wins (85pts) and Barri 2 wins (71pts) so Button needs a 4 pt spread or less to clinch over Barri.

So here are the ways he can win while still finishing behind Barri:

Barri 1st; Button 3rd
Barri 2nd; Button 5th
Barri 3rd; Button 7th
Barri 4th; Button 8th
Barri 5th or worse; Button can DNF

Now for a really exciting race in Abu Dhabi lets assume a Button point lead of just 4 pts (a realistic nail biter). Then here is the only way Barri can do it in Brazil:

Barri 1st; Button outside points

Given the starting order this is not an unlikely finish. So looks like Abu Dhabi could be a very exciting race!


It's early on wst coast so i might be off so feel free to check. Enjoy the race!

 

Race forecast is 73F, cloudy with showers. Precip 50%

Current conditions at 11AM local time - 75F, mostly cloudy, no precip.

Could go either way. Setup will be a gamble, and the teams that opted for a dry setup have the most to gain [or lose].

 

Thanks I missed that...set the DVR to record and it stopped recording well before the end...

Wet setups are a bit of magic...I know in karting there are 2 schools of thought for a full wet setup:
Full soft
Full stiff
There appears to be nothing in between.
No idea how this would apply to Formula cars or exactly what they are allowed to change based on climatic conditions

 

The optimum setup, in an formula car/sports racer, for the wet is:

Softer Springs
Soften the shocks
Raise ride height (Part of all of this may come from tire size)
Bias the sway bars to massive understeer
Full downforce
Rain tires

The problem is dealing with the conditions when you make the decision vs the race. That is true regardless of F1 parc ferme (which is the extreme case) or the start of a race where it looks like conditions may change.

So what happens is that often a compromise is made. Maybe soften shocks, and change sways but stay with stiff springs and slicks if it starts dry and looks like rain. I am pretty sure with the qual conditions and the forecast, that there were a lot of compromises yesterday.

 

Trulli must be Button's best friend. His idiocy took out three cars (himself, sutil and alonso) thus helping Buton.

 

And then he had the nerve to point fingers at Sutil. What a tool.
Raj

 

Racer of the race: Kimi

He was going for the lead lap 1 turn 1 when Webber took his wing off.

Then he pits and HK leaves in front of him spraying petrol all over his car which then ignites as KR is leaving the pits.

He then races to the end with burning gas in his eyes and finishes 6th.

All of this after Ferrari has bid him goodbye; for me thats a racer!!!

 

+1 and didn't bitch about Webber either who IMO deserved a penalty. He screwed up not only Kimi's race, but likely Barichello's too.

Drive of the race besides Raikkonen goes to Kubiayshiwhattahell his name is. Rookie challenged Button and drove like a veteran, what an awesome drive in his 1st race!

And congrats to Button and Brawn, they were not my favourites, but they're the new Champions!

 

Agreed..............he stared in the Usual Suspects as well as being an exceptional replacement for TC................did a far better job than his much more experienced team mate.

 

A wild start to this race anyway.

Congrats to ew928 for being the only vote for Webber.

And congrats to Button for finally doing it. I hope that Brawn and RedBull are both strong again next year and that Ferrari and McCheaters can get their acts together so that we will have a wide open series again next year. Maybe even one of the new teams will have some cars.