211 replies to this topic

[LabradoRacer]

Out of fear of offending freaky2 (and inviting her fatwa), I desisted from writing 2 Japanese words, one which begins with 'H' & the other with 'B'.

If Macca gives Lewis a reliable car, he should win. Expect Vettel on the podium.

[JHS18]

Already? It's two weeks away...

[LabradoRacer]

Creating a long, silly titled thread was on my bucket list.

[AleHop]

LabradoRacer, on 25 September 2012 - 11:49 AM, said:

Creating a long, silly titled thread was on my bucket list.

Ok but don't forget to tick off that item this time 'round.

[LabradoRacer]

AleHop, on 25 September 2012 - 12:06 PM, said:

Ok but don't forget to tick off that item this time 'round.

[Insider]

JHS18, on 25 September 2012 - 11:22 AM, said:

Already? It's two weeks away...

I really don't know why it should be though. Back-to-back races in Asia would be a real test of resources.

[freaky2]

Ouch! I hoped it would be this week

Anyway, I like the thread title Jay

[JHS18]

Insider, on 26 September 2012 - 08:27 AM, said:

I really don't know why it should be though. Back-to-back races in Asia would be a real test of resources.

You don't need to wait long.

Japan and Korea are back to back.

Patience.

[Insider]

JHS18, on 26 September 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

You don't need to wait long.

Japan and Korea are back to back.

Patience.

Not now, Cato! I know that - of course, I know that! Who do you think you are dealing wit, you little minky!

[Rainmaster]

I agree - Hamilton is the favourite. Less convinced Red Bull will be all that fast, though. A top five finish will do nicely for Alonso's third title. Suzuka is my favourite track so looking forward to this one.

[Insider]

Button will be doing everything in his power to win in Japan - for McLaren, for himself, for Jessica and the hundreds of fans who consider him a near-deity. Lewis won't get much help from his pal here.

[AleHop]

Rainmaster, on 26 September 2012 - 08:25 PM, said:

I agree - Hamilton is the favourite. Less convinced Red Bull will be all that fast, though. A top five finish will do nicely for Alonso's third title. Suzuka is my favourite track so looking forward to this one.

Anything less than 2nd row is a poor result for Alobso's title hopes and anything less than a podium is a poor result for Alonso's title hopes.

Suzuka is a demanding track and it will expose any car weakness for the remaining races too so it isn't just the result what matters there. If the F2012 can't fight for the WIN then the dream is over for Alonso/Ferrari.

The championship is now a car development war more than anything else. Sadly, I don't trust Ferrari as they haven't really brought anything remarkable since Canada.

[Massa]

I don't know...Alonso can still win the title with a weaker car and I fully expect him to.  Every championship scenario I've played with had Alonso winning zero races for the rest of the year and he only lost when Vettel or Hamilton were impossibly consistent at winning.  Singapore's implications were huge.  The only driver/car combination that could string enough wins together to beat Alonso retired and allowed the weaker Red Bull/Vettel pairing to steal points.

Suzuka, by the way, is such a frustrating track in video games.  Damn it's tough.  So, I look forward to this track a lot.

Plus, the Asian season starting is a nice treat for me because it means I have to record the races rather than watch them live, which is actually a great thing, because then I can fast forward through the ad breaks and watch SPEED's entire coverage of the actual Grand Prix in about 50 minutes.

[LabradoRacer]

I still maintain that Alonso will at best lose the WDC by a narrow margin. No shame that, given a relatively slower car.

Wonder if Mercedes will "optimise and extract the potential of the new upgrades" here.

[JHS18]

Well according to this forum, in the last few races Alonso should have had his lead cut massively!!!!!111! etc

And he's lost what? Two points to his nearest challenger?

Given the current gap, I think he'll be fine if that keeps up, which it probably will as no-one is going to win all of the remaining six races.

[LabradoRacer]

JHS18, on 27 September 2012 - 08:55 PM, said:

Well according to this forum, in the last few races Alonso should have had his lead cut massively!!!!!111! etc

And he's lost what? Two points to his nearest challenger?

Given the current gap, I think he'll be fine if that keeps up, which it probably will as no-one is going to win all of the remaining six races.

Last 3 races, Vettel 43 points, Alonso 30. But I admit, I don't know the picture over the last 5 or 6 races.

Edited by LabradoRacer, 27 September 2012 - 09:03 PM.

[Massa]

Even at that rate (13 points every 3 races), though, Alonso would still beat Vettel by 3 points.

[Quiet One]

LabradoRacer, on 27 September 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

Last 3 races, Vettel 43 points, Alonso 30. But I admit, I don't know the picture over the last 5 or 6 races.

In the past four races, out of 100 possible points Vettel earned 55, Hamilton 50 and Alonso 40. Ferrari is a sitting duck compared to the dominance the RBRs and McLaren's had shown. Only two facts help him: Ferrari's reliability has been vastly superior to the others and Alonso never finishes below the car maximum capabilities, i.e. if the mcLarens can lock a front row and RBRs can lock a second row and they 4 manage to somehow finish in those four places, be sure that Alonso will finish 5th. Higher, if any of those fall down, but almost never lower (except with a little help of Grosjean).
Currently, the McLarens have shown strong pace under every circumstance: low circuits, fast circuits, low corners, long straights, street tracks, cold weather, hot weatheretc. They won at Monza and Hungary, and would have comfortably won at Singapore as well. The RBRs are not as strong being more a hit or miss team. Ferrari has been stable but the only scenario where it was defined as decidedly fast is in the wet, which means nothing as no car is really fast in the wet, that's a matter of driving. They have great engines which can help them somehow but you get the unavoidable feeling that Alonso, more than being dominating the championship has simply bagged most of his ponts earlier  than Lewis and Vettel.

Now is their time, and, relibility issues aside, they have ahead a more stable scenario than the first half when even the HRTs could dream of a win, whether they will make as much points or not to match what Alonso reaped in the first half remains to be seen, but certainly none of these 3 has any room for errors or relax.

Maths mean Sh#t at this stage. A simple brush against a wal from Alonso, another car clipping his wing and suddenly Vettel can be all over his neck breathing hard and Lewis in a car that seems quite capable of winning the remaining races can be suddenly up there.

The championship is far from over for this 3, or even winless Kimi, although he lacks both the wins or the reliable/fast enough car to seem as threatening as the other two but still...

Button and Webber? Forget it. Even with the car they are far beyond what even their more capable teammates would be able to achieve.

[Rainmaster]

Yep, maths still favours Alonso for this championship (but only just). The fact he hasn't had a consistent challenger really helps him when he can make the podium quite regularly. His advantage is also that now his closest challenger (Vettel) hasn't got the outright fastest car and Hamilton and Button might beat Vettel home in many of the next races, with Alonso not far behind Vettel. I also fully expect Alonso will win another race this season. Nevertheless, it's all ultimately still to play for and that's the good thing.

[Insider]

Well, I had my money on JB for this one as he won it last year and it has become something of a second home GP for him. The gear box penalty doesn't help.  I really believe that no driver should suffer a penalty for mechanical issues - period. Fine the teams or dock teams constructor points but put a stop to this ridiculously unfair rule. With these flying Xboxs to handle their job seems hard enough.

[Quiet One]

Insider, on 01 October 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

Well, I had my money on JB for this one as he won it last year and it has become something of a second home GP for him. The gear box penalty doesn't help.  I really believe that no driver should suffer a penalty for mechanical issues - period. Fine the teams or dock teams constructor points but put a stop to this ridiculously unfair rule. With these flying Xboxs to handle their job seems hard enough.

Well...consider it this way, if they let him race with a new gearbox with no penalty just because his car is unreliably they would be penalizing every other driver in the grid for McLaren's (actually, whoever provides them with these) lousy gearboxes

Edited by Quiet One, 01 October 2012 - 06:11 PM.

[BradSpeedMan]

Insider, on 01 October 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

Well, I had my money on JB for this one as he won it last year and it has become something of a second home GP for him. The gear box penalty doesn't help.  I really believe that no driver should suffer a penalty for mechanical issues - period. Fine the teams or dock teams constructor points but put a stop to this ridiculously unfair rule. With these flying Xboxs to handle their job seems hard enough.

You don't find this thing with Ferrari, no technical retirements or gearbox changes, they are incredibly bulletproof, or so it seems, barring Monza practise. Alonso is incredibly lucky or has a hand in these reliability stakes, the Renault was also amazingly bulletproof during his championship years 2005 - 2006.

or maybe it's his driving style, which "helps" the car....

I better stop this Alonso praise b4 Andres and Alehop starts looking at me funny....

Edited by BradSpeedMan, 01 October 2012 - 09:50 PM.

[Insider]

Quiet One, on 01 October 2012 - 06:10 PM, said:

Well...consider it this way, if they let him race with a new gearbox with no penalty just because his car is unreliably they would be penalizing every other driver in the grid for McLaren's (actually, whoever provides them with these) lousy gearboxes

My point was that no driver should incur gearbox and engine penalties. What does it achieve? Utterly ridiculous if you ask me. Next they'll be penalising tyre wear!

[The Shadow]

Insider, on 01 October 2012 - 11:40 PM, said:

My point was that no driver should incur gearbox and engine penalties. What does it achieve?

Cost savings. Rules are rules, and if teams agree to regulations(and drivers are part of the team) - then they agree to be penalised for failure to comply.

It also serves as an incentive to improve the reliability of the cars. The very fact that there are so few mechanical retirements now in F1 is directly linked to these developments.

Unless your name is Schumacher, where 2012 is a season of retirements in more ways than one....

Edited by The Shadow, 02 October 2012 - 02:30 AM.

[Insider]

$100,000 fine for a gearbox would serve just as well as an incentive. Instead, we have the farcical scenario were a driver racks up a incredible pole lap, the fans and sponsors are pleased as punch and then........third row. It destroys the very fabric of racing. Teams ought to think about that when they agree to be penalised.

[JHS18]

Eh, who cares?

Still has a chance to race through the pack. It's not as if he's been put right to the back of the grid.

I do find it slightly ironic this has been going on all season, and for quite a few years too. But as soon as dear old Jenson gets a penalty, it's totally wrong and needs scrapping right away.

But then I'm a natural cynic.

Edited by JHS18, 02 October 2012 - 10:28 AM.

[dribbler]

I predict the points may look like this, come Monday. *(finish position of Japenese GP)

1. Alonso 206 (4th)
2. Vettel 180  (3rd)
3. Hamilton 160 (2nd)
4. Raikkonen 155 (7th)
5. Button 144 (1st)
6. Webber 142 (5th)
7. Rosberg 94 (9th)
8. Grosjean 82 (out of top 10)
9. Perez 74 (6th)
10. Massa 53 (10th)

[Insider]

JHS18, on 02 October 2012 - 10:22 AM, said:

Eh, who cares?

Still has a chance to race through the pack. It's not as if he's been put right to the back of the grid.

I do find it slightly ironic this has been going on all season, and for quite a few years too. But as soon as dear old Jenson gets a penalty, it's totally wrong and needs scrapping right away.

But then I'm a natural cynic.

Nothing to do with JB. It has been going on for years but I think it's wrong.  I like Jenson coming out of the midfield and winning - I hate processions, even when he's leading them.

[LabradoRacer]

FP1 over. McLaren at the top, no surprises there. Mercedes seem to be competitive, probably will be in quali at least. Kobayashi being given a nitro boost by his home GP. None-too-shabby pace by the Force Indias.

[LabradoRacer]

From FP2, RBR, Macca looking very strong. Hard to see anyone else on the podium.