Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander D'italia 2011

[gary88]

I think with Vettel now we are for sure seeing a new Schumacher/Ferrari-esque period of dominance. He was absolutely untouchable after that overtaking Alonso while going on the grass on top of it.

Hamilton seemed especially disappointed in his post-race interview, Massa wasn't too pleased with Webber either and rightly so.

But this was my favorite part of the race

[UltimateBMW]

[GuyOh]

i thought Schumacher was EPIC defending against Hamilton

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by GuyOh

i thought Schumacher was EPIC defending against Hamilton

+1

[E90SLAM]

.

[BrokenVert]

Wow. That was one of the best races this year. At least for the first 30 laps or so.

Freaking HRTs, would've been interesting if he took out the front runners instead of midfield, and the other one bogged the start and got wheeled in.

Can't wait for Singapore. I'll be in London for it, so you know what that means. iPlayer!


I don't know about anyone else but I thought that Bruno Senna was fantastic this time around. Second start in an F1 (not an HRT, a real F1 car) and he gets into Q1 by 0.006 seconds and brings home points, at Monza. I really hope someone signs him next year.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Wow. That was one of the best races this year. At least for the first 30 laps or so.

Freaking HRTs, would've been interesting if he took out the front runners instead of midfield, and the other one bogged the start and got wheeled in.

Can't wait for Singapore. I'll be in London for it, so you know what that means. iPlayer!


I don't know about anyone else but I thought that Bruno Senna was fantastic this time around. Second start in an F1 (not an HRT, a real F1 car) and he gets into Q1 by 0.006 seconds and brings home points, at Monza. I really hope someone signs him next year.

If Kubica isn't back into a car in October, he may be at Renault next year.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

If Kubica isn't back into a car in October, he may be at Renault next year.

I just read the news about Boullier set the deadline about this.
I think Renault is getting ridiculous, how can you expect a seriously injured driver who had gone through several massive surgeries to give you a clear yes or no by next month.

Replacing Heidfeld IMO was all about money even if Renault disagrees. There were two solid finish for Heidfeld if it wasn't he got pushed out to the grass by Alguerisuari and his car exploded in Hungary. Petrov is performing about the same as Nick but the Russian brings in more money.

For some reason I was thinking they just need an excuse to put drivers with massive financial backup in the driver seat. e.g. Senna and Petrov.
And don't bother waiting for Kubica at all.

[Echo M3]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

I just read the news about Boullier set the deadline about this.
I think Renault is getting ridiculous, how can you expect a seriously injured driver who had gone through several massive surgeries to give you a clear yes or no by next month.

Replacing Heidfeld IMO was all about money even if Renault disagrees. There were two solid finish for Heidfeld if it wasn't he got pushed out to the grass by Alguerisuari and his car exploded in Hungary. Petrov is performing about the same as Nick but the Russian brings in more money.

For some reason I was thinking they just need an excuse to put drivers with massive financial backup in the driver seat. e.g. Senna and Petrov.
And don't bother waiting for Kubica at all.

I agree, Renault are getting ridiculous. Ferrari was very supportive of Massa's recovery and have given him plenty of opportunities to get back to his old self. Renault seem content to throw Kubica under the bus (a bit harsh, but true) if he is not better in a few weeks' time.

I don't mind this, honestly. If Kubica can get back to prior levels of fitness and skill, I wouldn't want to see him waste his time at Renault anyway. They are clearly a team that is going nowhere for the near future. So perhaps this is better, as it will get him out of his contract and into a better race seat in '12 or '13.

I'd love to see what he could do with a Ferrari or Red Bull

[johanness]

Originally Posted by pman10

Also, anyone else feel that the BBC can be a bit overly biased at times?

If it had been Hamilton or Button defending Schumacher, they will would have called it 'brilliant' or 'inspired' defending. But they seem to suggest that Schumi was being a bit reckless or breaking the rules (which I disagree with).

Absolutely. Uber biased. Whatever, it was extremely entertaining, and I hope it marks MSC's return to the podium.
Vettel's pass on Alonso was epic. Great race

[gary88]

Technically, Schumacher was breaking the rules by making more than one defending move.

I don't think the BBC is THAT biased, of course they'll be a little more supportive of someone from the UK, but they've called Hamilton out on his overly-aggressive driving before.

[johanness]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

Overall, not a bad race. Some great action. I'm still sick of seeing (we actually didn't even see much of him) Vettel just ride off into the Sun. As good of a driver he may be, that is all car/setup. And his pass on Alonso was because of surperior grip, being able to ride the outside of the corner around and still on 2 wheels.

Yeah, Vettels pass (& win) @ Monza took zero talent.

Get a grip

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by johanness

Yeah, Vettels pass (& win) @ Monza took zero talent.

Get a grip

Literally, the very next sentence addresses this response. I'd say my grasp is fairly secure.

(No where did I insult or hint at Vettel having no talent.)

[johanness]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

Vettel just ride off into the Sun. As good of a driver he may be, that is all car/setup.

"all" doesn't leave a lot of room for talent etc. That's my point

[007MCoupe]

As a Button fan (first) and McLaren fan (second), I felt they were very well matched against the Red Bull, if not quicker than Vettel the entire race. Jenson was hanging back while Lewis and Schumi battled it out and when he saw his opportunity, he smoked past Lewis and it took him no time to get around Schumi. (By the way, that Mercedes was insanely quick, and Schumi did an amazing job defending against Lewis!) IMO, if he hadn't been 'held up' behind that battle for so many laps he could've given Vettel a closer run for his money, but it is what it is.

Did anyone feel Hamilton was driving very soft, at least what I've grown to expect from him?

Congrats to Vettel, but LET SOMEBODY ELSE WIN! lol

[gary88]

11 minutes of Schumi vs Hamilton, watch before FOM finds it

[raisemyrent]

A lot of what I wanted to say about MSC has been said already. So I will leave you with this: please name ONE other driver currently on the grid that you believe would be able to do this to LH under identical conditions (car difference, track, tyres, etc).

Thank you.

[EINSER M]

i thought i heard button say that being on pole wasnt important, i think being ahead is definitely still a must so u can avoid all the bullshit going on behind you. vettel is a constant pole sitter and 8 GPs this year PROVES that

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by johanness

"all" doesn't leave a lot of room for talent etc. That's my point

I was saying once out front, being able to go into cruise mode for the latter half of the race is because of the car. Which is all my statements were regarding.

The line between car/driver will always be blurry, and I don't mean to try to sort it all out. But it has to be said, when the driver isn't driving the car at 100% anymore then it is the car that is the diminant force at that point.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by kirkx5m

i thought i heard button say that being on pole wasnt important, i think being ahead is definitely still a must so u can avoid all the bullshit going on behind you. vettel is a constant pole sitter and 8 GPs this year PROVES that

He's trying to make himself feel better...

In theory, he is correct, but as risk management, sitting in pole and have a clean getaway is still better.

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

A lot of what I wanted to say about MSC has been said already. So I will leave you with this: please name ONE other driver currently on the grid that you believe would be able to do this to LH under identical conditions (car difference, track, tyres, etc).

Thank you.

Alonso. Quite possibly the best defensive driver on the grid.

You're welcome.

[O-cha]

Originally Posted by pman10

Also, anyone else feel that the BBC can be a bit overly biased at times?

If it had been Hamilton or Button defending Schumacher, they will would have called it 'brilliant' or 'inspired' defending. But they seem to suggest that Schumi was being a bit reckless or breaking the rules (which I disagree with).

T

The speed commentators were also quite vocal about his blocking being illegal as well. Which it was. There was no reason to push him on the grass, and the double blocking was worse then what hamilton was penalized for at Malaysia.

Yes hamilton changed directions more then once (just like schumacher) difference is schumacher completely blocked hamilton, hamilton vs alonso, alonso could have gone by at any time if he had the speed as he was not effectively blocked by the weaving.

If you penalize hamilton for that you HAVE to penalize schumacher.

Originally Posted by 007MCoupe

Did anyone feel Hamilton was driving very soft, at least what I've grown to expect from him?

He just didn't have the speed on the straights, and when they were trying to out break each other he didn't seem to be as aggressive as he could be. From his public comments though you can tell he has given up on the year, no reason to wreck the car and get nothing but a DNF and a bill for it.

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

A lot of what I wanted to say about MSC has been said already. So I will leave you with this: please name ONE other driver currently on the grid that you believe would be able to do this to LH under identical conditions (car difference, track, tyres, etc).

Thank you.

Schumi is a very good driver and a very good blocker, but any driver whos is around the same pace of another driver can keep someone behind him by blocking them all day. That's why the rule was made. Difference is schumi didn't make any mistakes when hamilton was in range to exploit them, and that's because he's a very good and experienced driver.

Also, I think most drivers would put up that aggressive of a defense, any other driver lower in the rank would have been immediately penalized. Imagine if kobiyashi or petrov did that.. they would have been penalized right away.

Despite this the only reason he was able top hold him is because Hamiltons car just didn't have the top speed, if he came out from behind schumi, even with DRS opened, he started slowing relative to him.