Our Beloved Chairman's China Grand Prix

[Quiet One 15]

Mmmmh...let's see:

Jody Scheckter raced for how long? 10+ years (edit: wikipedia says only 8)? 10 wins, 33 podiums, called "a menace that does not belong to F1" by Fittipaldi. Won a WDC with the very strong Ferrari in 1979 with just 3 wins to his tally. Was about to be kicked out from F1 if not for McLaren that grounded him for 4 races. A good career, but no legend.

Alonso: 8 effective years so far (not counting his testing days at Renault), 28 wins, 74 podiums. 2 WDCs, and a WDC contender in all cars he drove except Minardi.

I heard good old Jody is doing well with his organic farm. He can certainly produce good amounts of manure

[pabloh20 1]

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/178177/1/scheckter_alonso_a_steady_performer_not_best_of_the_bunch.html

uhm, you were saying??

I stand by my opinion, thank you very much

[pabloh20 1]

Geez you cannot be so ignorant! FYI, Montoya is not in F1 anymore!!!

Wait...oh, sorry, my bad...I read "all round".

He's got Connie, well done fella, I say.

[pabloh20 1]

Mmmmh...let's see:

Jody Scheckter raced for how long? 10+ years (edit: wikipedia says only 8)? 10 wins, 33 podiums, called "a menace that does not belong to F1" by Fittipaldi. Won a WDC with the very strong Ferrari in 1979 with just 3 wins to his tally. Was about to be kicked out from F1 if not for McLaren that grounded him for 4 races. A good career, but no legend.

Alonso: 8 effective years so far (not counting his testing days at Renault), 28 wins, 74 podiums. 2 WDCs, and a WDC contender in all cars he drove except Minardi.

I heard good old Jody is doing well with his organic farm. He can certainly produce good amounts of manure

Wait, what's that I see..............is that a nerve that has just been touched

In the good old fashioned Liverpool way - calm down, calm down

[Quiet One 15]

Wait, what's that I see..............is that a nerve that has just been touched

In the good old fashioned Liverpool way - calm down, calm down

Hey, I'm good at advising other people to calm down, that does not mean I am good at it!

[pabloh20 1]

Hey, I'm good at advising other people to calm down, that does not mean I am good at it!

You should be a sex therapist then

[Quiet One 15]

You should be a sex therapist then

Why not? I can stay for ages before orgasm. And even longer before I get an erection...

[Quiet One 15]

Hear: http://www.totalf1.com/full_story/view/413747/Happy_Hamilton_on_top_of_the_world/

I fear a happy LH more than a bitter, angry young man like he was last season, spectacular overtakings and all.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Mmmmh...let's see:

Jody Scheckter raced for how long? 10+ years (edit: wikipedia says only 8)? 10 wins, 33 podiums, called "a menace that does not belong to F1" by Fittipaldi. Won a WDC with the very strong Ferrari in 1979 with just 3 wins to his tally. Was about to be kicked out from F1 if not for McLaren that grounded him for 4 races. A good career, but no legend.

Alonso: 8 effective years so far (not counting his testing days at Renault), 28 wins, 74 podiums. 2 WDCs, and a WDC contender in all cars he drove except Minardi.

I heard good old Jody is doing well with his organic farm. He can certainly produce good amounts of manure

You should look at Vettel's stats!!!

Seems Jody Sheckter was right after all...

[Rainmaster 7]

You should look at Vettel's stats!!!

Seems Jody Sheckter was right after all...

[pabloh20 1]

Why not? I can stay for ages before orgasm. And even longer before I get an erection...

[pabloh20 1]

You should look at Vettel's stats!!!

Seems Jody Sheckter was right after all...

Well he's not as busty as Scheckter, but he has a narrower waist..............wait, what stats again??

[Jack Acid 0]

Apexhead's F1 2012 Chinese GP Rapid Fire Review

Could I have been more wrong when I stated this in my Chinese GP preview?:

Speaking of Mercedes, do I think the 1-2 will hold for race day? Absolutely not. Brawn's boys are still having all kinds of tire problems and I suspect it will show once again on Sunday.

Then again, who can blame me? Mercedes had shown very strong in the first two rounds, a pace that was cast aside when the lights went out on race day. But not this day -- not for Nico Rosberg, who scored his first career pole AND win in the same weekend. Congratulations to Nico for a fantastic drive and one that was long overdue.

Now, onto a few thoughts and ends:

1. Lotus was the tale of two finishes -- young Romaine Grojean had shown great pace in qualifying in both Melbourne and Malaysia, yet had not been able to get to lap 3 in either contest. In China, he was able to finish a fantastic 6th and showed that if he can exercise patience, he should be able to routinely finish in the points.

Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen was running P2 until fateful laps 47 & 48, when he plummeted from P2 all the way down out of the points due to severe tire wear, finishing a jaw-dropping 14th. This had much to do with the failed strategy of putting Kimi out on used mediums, and it did not pay off. Still, Kimi's fall was stark. The good news is though, it appears the Lotus E20 could compete as the season goes on.

2. Sauber's race pace didn't show as well as their qualifying, but that can't be overly surprising. Kamui Kobayashi qualified a eye-popping 3rd, but quickly fell all the way back to 7th after a poor opening lap. He finished 10th. Sergio Perez, coming off his first podium in Malaysia, tried to make his tires last extra longer but it did not work. struggled with his tires and routinely locked up coming down into Turn 14. Meanwhile, both Williams cars finished in the points. Bruno Senna is really showing that he does have potential after all.

3. Jean-Eric Vergne, the young Toro Rosso driver, voluntarily started the race from the pit-lane to adjust his setup from a terrible qualifying session. He ended up finishing 16th, just ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who finished a reasonably disappointing 17th. The young Vergne has shown good promise thus far.

4. Force India has disappointed through 3 races. I really felt they would make a jump this year but that has not been the case. Instead, it's been Sauber and Williams who have pleasantly surprised.

5. After a horrific qualifying session (11th), Sebastian Vettel was able to finish in the mid-points for a respectable 5th. The double-world champion was running P2 late in the race, but fell behind both McLaren's and his teammate Mark Webber before it was said and done. Seb hasn't finished ahead of Mark Webber yet this season, very surprising coming off such a dominant year in 2011.

6. Jenson Button had a very nice result considering his terrible slow pit stop and props to Lewis Hamilton, who is quietly leading the standings after 3 rounds. Lewis has spoken publicly about his changed, more patient approach and it's been evident so far. The McLaren has been the only car to show consistently good pace.

7. Poor Michael Schumacher. Given Merc's tire strategy, it would be easy to imagine a Mercedes 1-2 if not for the disastrous pit stop in which the 7-time world champion was undone by his own crew failing to secure a right-front wheel. Schumi did an excellent job of keeping the rest of the field at bay as Nico built up an early gap but in the end, Nico was able to carry the race on his own.

8. Unsurprisingly, a disappointing race for Ferrari. Fernando Alonso's abilities are unquestionable but once again, Felipe Massa finished well out of the points at 13. Questions will continue to mount for the Brazilian and it's only a matter of time before Maranello runs out of patience.

[Massa 0]

Solid report. You definitely weren't the only one who discounted Mercedes pre-race, though it was interesting how Schumacher was on track to finish fourth had he not had his issues and the overtaking madness at the end hadn't shuffled him up or down the order. He dropped off a lot, not sure what explains it really.

Confidence is so much of this game and I think that will make it interesting with Rosberg. The car will always be the big factor, but whatever Rosberg can do performance-wise to make any kind of impact, I think he'll be doing his maximum now that he's gotten one out of the way. Can he mount a championship challenge? I'm not ready to say that. But it's really interesting to have another guy making an impression and all the while delaying the inevitable: a winning streak for the McLaren boys, and perhaps a win from Red Bull.

[Rainmaster 7]

Yes, a good report there. Well written and accurate.

[Jack Acid 0]

Solid report. You definitely weren't the only one who discounted Mercedes pre-race, though it was interesting how Schumacher was on track to finish fourth had he not had his issues and the overtaking madness at the end hadn't shuffled him up or down the order. He dropped off a lot, not sure what explains it really.

Confidence is so much of this game and I think that will make it interesting with Rosberg. The car will always be the big factor, but whatever Rosberg can do performance-wise to make any kind of impact, I think he'll be doing his maximum now that he's gotten one out of the way. Can he mount a championship challenge? I'm not ready to say that. But it's really interesting to have another guy making an impression and all the while delaying the inevitable: a winning streak for the McLaren boys, and perhaps a win from Red Bull.

Yes, a good report there. Well written and accurate.

Thanks much mates. Interesting note on Schumi, thanks Massa...didn't realize that was his pace, good to know. Yes, I'm also very curious how this will affect Rosberg's confidence. But I think ultimately, this year is still down to Brawn and the car. Would love to see Michael win another one before his days are done.

I also expect McLaren to be the victorious constructor this year; seems like only a matter of time before the wins come for Button and Hamilton.

Anyway, I'll be getting to a quick Bahrain preview ASAP.

[The Shadow 0]

5. After a horrific qualifying session (11th), Sebastian Vettel was able to finish in the mid-points for a respectable 5th. The double-world champion was running P2 late in the race, but fell behind both McLaren's and his teammate Mark Webber before it was said and done. Seb hasn't finished ahead of Mark Webber yet this season, very surprising coming off such a dominant year in 2011.

Great report. Apologies for nit-picking but Vettel finished 2nd in Albert Park while Webber finished 4th.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Great report. Apologies for nit-picking but Vettel finished 2nd in Albert Park while Webber finished 4th.

PPl write and read only what they want to believe...

[Jack Acid 0]

Great report. Apologies for nit-picking but Vettel finished 2nd in Albert Park while Webber finished 4th.

Oh wow! My bad, I could have sworn he hadn't beaten Webber yet. Need to double check my facts! Thanks for the correction.

[AleHop 0]

Very good report.

Not as acid as your nickname would suggest though.

[Quiet One 15]

Very good report.

Not as acid as your nickname would suggest though.

Two hours in front of the TV watching:

6 WDCs on the grid.

Teams like Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and newcomers but already successful Red Bull Racing.

Changeable weather, unpredictable tires, close fought battles among the b est of the best.

The race was won by a little girl that failed to accomplish anything worthy of note in 111 races, in a car that hasn't won anything in the past 55 years.

There you got your acid review.

[Massa 0]

Would be hard, I think, for the Mercedes AMG F1 W03 to have won races in the past fifty-five years, with it being launched this past February.

[AleHop 0]

Two hours in front of the TV watching:

6 WDCs on the grid.

Teams like Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and newcomers but already successful Red Bull Racing.

Changeable weather, unpredictable tires, close fought battles among the b est of the best.

The race was won by a little girl that failed to accomplish anything worthy of note in 111 races, in a car that hasn't won anything in the past 55 years.

There you got your acid review.

No, not a lemon review!

[The Shadow 0]

Oh wow! My bad, I could have sworn he hadn't beaten Webber yet. Need to double check my facts! Thanks for the correction.

Don't worry about it. Mark is performing well this year. Vettel forced to use the newer Sauber style exhaust that Mark prefers.

Makes one wonder who the number 2 driver is eh?

[Rainmaster 7]

Makes one wonder whether there ever was a "no.2 driver" or whether that was all just exaggerated because Vettel was driving better.