Grand Prix Rejects

Rusujuur wrote:I have a feeling the wets have an extremely small operating window. From last year and also today you can see drivers complaining it is too wet and then suddenly go intermediate just a few laps after that even though it is still almost as wet as before. Is the tread too small or is the tyre too hard/soft i have no idea, but they could at least try to improve things.

Or could it be, that the current formula just isn't capable of driving in the wet as well as before. It could be aero related or driver positioning. I remember seeing a video that showed the drivers point of view and you could hardly see anything at all. Maybe the spray is taking that small bit away and before the drivers were somehow better (Higher?) situated in chassis.

I believe that Hembery has admitted that Pirelli's intermediate tyre definitely has a smaller operating window than the Bridgestone intermediate that came before it (the Bridgestone intermediates could operate in both wetter and drier conditions that Pirelli's tyres currently can). As to the question of the difference between the two tyres, on their website Pirelli mention that they have altered the construction of the wet tyres so they are closer to the intermediate tyres, which might explain why the difference in performance between the two tyres has narrowed.
From what I can recall, Pirelli's wet tyres also displace slightly less water than the Bridgestone tyres could - according to Pirelli, the wet tyres can disperse around 60 litres a second at high speed (the intermediates disperse 20 litres a second at the same speed), whilst off the top of my head I believe that Bridgestone were quoting figures closer to 80 litres a second for the full wet tyres under similar conditions.

Overall, I think, but may be mistaken, that the tread depth was slightly greater on the Bridgestone wet tyres and the design of the tread pattern itself was also somewhat different, enabling it to be used in more severe weather conditions. After all, the conditions today seemed to be more moderate than, for example, the 2007 Japanese GP, 2008 Italian GP or the 2009 Chinese GP's, so perhaps there is a question over the effectiveness of Pirelli's wet weather tyres.

bring back the monsoon tyre!

Another reason why they could've postponed qualifying is the risk of someone crashing, bringing out the red flag, and forcing the session to be abandoned anyway, due to the light levels being too low.

I'm going to join in with Carlos and mario (wow, the mods are banding together!). Whilst I think broadly speaking the decision to delay Q1, then Q2, and then postpone to Sunday altogether was a bit on the soft side, I think the big issue was the poor drainage in some spots, and the fact that water was ponding in places, especially at the apex of some corners and at the edge of the track. That's something the organisers need to look at in the future. It was a bit embarrassing seeing that.

Plus the river between turns 12 and 13 was not a good sight - reminded me of Interlagos 2003.

What I found mildly amusing (this happens rather often during rain delays) is the notion that if there is too much wetness on the track, then somehow by waiting, during which time more water gets added to the track, will somehow make things better ...

fjackdaw wrote:I think some people around here need to examine how they cope with disappointment.

Yes, well ...

Good news everyone! It is currently raining in Melbourne.

Wait, that's not good news at all.

GwilymJJames wrote:Good news everyone! It is currently raining in Melbourne.

Wait, that's not good news at all.

And I'm pretty sure it's been raining most of the night in Melbourne as well. Nice job fixing it, race control.

Well, I am just about to get a bit of sleep before Q2/3 - AND IT HAD BETTER NOT BE DELAYED ANY FURTHER. Otherwise I might just not bother watching at all, and just reset the alarm for the race itself... BY WHICH TIME, THEY HAD BETTER HAVE HAD QUALIFYING!!!

I want to watch qualifying, but I can't pull an all-nighter when I have work on Sunday morning. And I don't think I've pulled one for years anyway.

EDIT: You know what, I'm gonna stay up for qualifying, and then try and get 4/5 hours sleep or such. This will either be genius or a complete disaster, especially if there's any more delays...

Better idea: get up at 5AM, catch the BBC qualifying highlights and then straight to the race at 6. Good night all.

East Londoner wrote:Better idea: get up at 5AM, catch the BBC qualifying highlights and then straight to the race at 6. Good night all.

Perfect plan.

East Londoner wrote:Better idea: get up at 5AM, catch the BBC qualifying highlights and then straight to the race at 6. Good night all.

You've solved a conundrum for me, thanks!

fjackdaw wrote:I think some people around here need to examine how they cope with disappointment.

Couldn't agree more. Some people who have written things in the past few pages of this thread should hang their heads in shame. It's made me think quite differently about a few people who post on here that's for sure.

I've made my views on the situation clear in the ROTR thread, so I won't recite them here. All I'll say is that many of you need to get a grip on the situation. It really isn't that big a deal.

Woke up nice and early to catch qualifying at 8 a.m Singapore time,only to realize that Star Sports may not be showing Q2 and Q3 due to it not being on their TV schedule..

nice rerun of the 99 race just finished quali program start in a bit cant wait

on other news mclaren in doo doo considering mp4 27 revival

Nine minutes to the start of broadcast here. Looks like I'm pulling another long night...

I feel sorry for you guys pulling all nighters. 12 minutes until qualifying starts again!

Ben Purse wrote:I feel sorry for you guys pulling all nighters. 12 minutes until qualifying starts again!

I definitely wouldn't be willing to get up at 5 in the morning.

So i've decided to stream Sky Sports F1. I'll delete this if moderators find this an unacceptable post

redbulljack14 wrote:

Ben Purse wrote:I feel sorry for you guys pulling all nighters. 12 minutes until qualifying starts again!

I definitely wouldn't be willing to get up at 5 in the morning.

So i've decided to stream Sky Sports F1. I'll delete this if moderators find this an unacceptable post

I'm streaming Sky Sports F1. Using my dad's Sky Go account. So it's legit streaming. You?

dr-baker wrote:

redbulljack14 wrote:

Ben Purse wrote:I feel sorry for you guys pulling all nighters. 12 minutes until qualifying starts again!

I definitely wouldn't be willing to get up at 5 in the morning.

So i've decided to stream Sky Sports F1. I'll delete this if moderators find this an unacceptable post

I'm streaming Sky Sports F1. Using my dad's Sky Go account. So it's legit streaming. You?

No.

Although my uni campus haven't blocked it off, and they block off torrenting. So i'm using that as my reasoning.

This is Rosberg's weekend. He's absolutely demolishing the field right now.

EDIT: And just as I say that, Vettel goes to P1

Sutil not repeating his practice pace and Rosberg back on top

Vernge is going good aswell.

And McLaren have screwed that up badly.

Wizzie wrote:And McLaren have screwed that up badly.

agree here

Wizzie wrote:And McLaren have screwed that up badly.

Brundle got it spot on. Button knew the slicks were wrong and immediately switched back. Perez, with less experience, didn't.

Mclaren did very, very bad! Now, not only the car isn't that good, but the strategies too.

Di Boredam did well to beat the Lotus drivers.

S951 wrote:

Wizzie wrote:And McLaren have screwed that up badly.

agree here

They're run of excellent judgement calls continue

AndreaModa wrote:

Wizzie wrote:And McLaren have screwed that up badly.

Brundle got it spot on. Button knew the slicks were wrong and immediately switched back. Perez, with less experience, didn't.

Button knows what he's doing in these situations, always seems to pay off for him.

Vettel slides...and still goes fastest for now.

VETTELPOLELOL.

Oh dear, looks like Kimi's damaged his car by running over the front jack first time around

VETTELPOLELOL

By 1.7 seconds aswell..

ham 3rd wow good going

Urgh, 2011 v2: Electric Boogaloo, here we come again

This season is over, guys: time to go home!

Really hoping Hamilton can pull something out of the bag now....

Good start for Felipe. Starting the year beating Alonso is good for him.

I watched in streaming here, the quality was bad, but, I see some dark clouds coming to the track.

Hmmm, Q1 was a lot more eventful. Time to go back to bed. Back just before lights out...

Klon wrote:This season is over, guys: time to go home!

See you in 2014.

I am gutted for Vergne, he probably would have made Q3 had the team not gambled on slicks. On the plus side (for him) he has looked stronger than Ricciardo all weekend.

The top 8 is pretty much as you would expect it to be following the practice times, looking forward to the race even though Vettel has a strong chance of running away with it, possible rain could throw an added spanner in the mix.