[McLaren Rulez]

Qualy: Hamilton leads all-McLaren front row - Planet-F1 News - from planet-f1.com

Great result for us Mac fans. Hope there's a good race tomorrow

[GTO]

Are the Mac's back? They've clearly worked hard on getting their car up to speed, but who would have thought that last years Champion would have to wait until Valencia for his pole. Either ways, only for more for us. This season has been a topsy turvy of pace setters. I think it's Barri's Brawn car that will be the one to watch out for in this race. Vettel continues to impress.

Luca Badoer : Slower than the Torro Rosso? What a disappointment. Can't help but think what Michael could have done in that same car.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Great result for us Mac fans. Hope there's a good race tomorrow

Originally Posted by GTO

Are the Mac's back?

Granted McLaren are back, but they're also the lightest cars on the grid...

The Official Formula 1 Website

In a street circuit where track position's important, McLaren's strategy could backfire. It all depends on how much lead they can pull on the rest of the Brawns & Red-Bulls. This could be Barichello's day...

P.S. Kimi's looks to have got at least 3 laps worth of extra fuel compared to Lewis & look at the fuel load Luca's carrying !?!

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by GTO

Luca Badoer : Slower than the Torro Rosso? What a disappointment. Can't help but think what Michael could have done in that same car.

He really did very very poorly. I mean, when was the last time a Ferrari was dead last and so far off the pace? Even Piquet or Bourdais would have got it in a better grid spot. And its not an excuse to claim that Badoer hasn't had practice. Look at Grosjean and Alguersari!

[SilentEngine]

Was hoping that Sutil would make it to Q3. Force India had shown some promise on practice sessions. Today could be Sutil's chance to get some points. (please don't get near Kimi )

Not really surprising to see Luca Badoer at the back, even when there was in-season testing and 3rd drivers during pracices, he used to off the pace relative to Ferrari teammates. That explains why Ferrari desperately wanted Michael back. They know how good (or bad) Badoer is.
Grosjean is in different league. He is a good young talent, you can't compare him to 39 year old reserve driver who drove a race 10 years back.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Not really surprising to see Luca Badoer at the back, even when there was in-season testing and 3rd drivers during pracices, he used to off the pace relative to Ferrari teammates. That explains why Ferrari desperately wanted Michael back. They know how good (or bad) Badoer is.
Grosjean is in different league. He is a good young talent, you can't compare him to 39 year old reserve driver who drove a race 10 years back.

True, but what on earth possessed Ferrari to even consider him if they knew how bad he was as a racing driver? When there's unemployed drivers like Piquet and Bourdais who's be more than happy to drive for them. Maybe even for no salary . I really hope he finds those extra few seconds or gets replaced by another driver for the next few races.

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

True, but what on earth possessed Ferrari to even consider him if they knew how bad he was as a racing driver? When there's unemployed drivers like Piquet and Bourdais who's be more than happy to drive for them. Maybe even for no salary . I really hope he finds those extra few seconds or gets replaced by another driver for the next few races.

Paying back for his services all these years. Why would they let some outsider drive their car and potentially pass on the information to other teams
I am sure he will get better as he gets more practice. But better if it happens quickly. It is a shame to see Ferrari qualifying on P20 purely on merit.

[Aditya]

Barrichello drove well and deserved to win.
As for Lewis Hamilton, the pit lane mess up by the team was a classical example of how to throw away a race.
Loved the Red Bull and Brawn pit lane conversation.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Barrichello drove well and deserved to win.
As for Lewis Hamilton, the pit lane mess up by the team was a classical example of how to throw away a race.
Loved the Red Bull and Brawn pit lane conversation.

Mclaren=McGoof ups. How more overconfident can one be? on the other hand, Rubinho did a good drive. kudos to him. So he gets himself another happy t-shirt.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

Mclaren=McGoof ups. How more overconfident can one be?

Over confidence has nothing to do with it. Red Bull didn't put any fuel in today for Vettel too. Its just an error and it happens to every team once in a while. It is a costly error though and Whitmarsh is talking nonsense when he says it didn't cost them the win. Those five extra seconds in the pits probably made the difference between first and second. At the very least, we'd have had an exciting battle till the end.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

I doubt it was over confidence. Red Bull didn't put any fuel in today for Vettel too. It happens to every team once in a while. It is a costly error though and Whitmarsh is talking nonsense when he says it didn't cost them the win. Those five extra seconds in the pits made the difference between first and second.

I'm a huge mclaren fan but todays incident at the pits was totally uncalled for. I don't recollect things like this when RonDennis was at the helm.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

I'm a huge mclaren fan but todays incident at the pits was totally uncalled for. I don't recollect things like this when RonDennis was at the helm.

I couldnt watch the race after the first round of pit stops. What happened with Hamilton in the second round? According to formula1.com:

Hamilton had a lead of 3.6s over Barrichello by Lap 36, but when he pitted again a lap later McLaren did not have his front tyres ready after a late request to him to do one more lap came just as he was about to enter the pits. That delay proved costly - though the team insisted it didn't cost them the win

So, did Hamilton pit anyways because the request came late? or did he abandon pitting in that lap and pitted in the next one?

[SilentEngine]

Deserved win for Rubens. Got to see his trademark 'slippery surface dance' on the podium after so long!

Redbull's were remarkably off the pace today. Also Vettel blew 2 engines in this weekend itself. If what commentators were saying is right, he has only 1 fresh engine left. Any more new engines after that will get him 10 grid places penalty. So Vettel's already slim chances are almost gone. Probably time to put more support behind Webber?

And Luca Badoer, he had no clue what was happening, he gave way to rookie Grosjean as if he was getting lapped in pits

Originally Posted by amitoj

So, did Hamilton pit anyways because the request came late? or did he abandon pitting in that lap and pitted in the next one?

He came in to pits in the same lap, left front tyre wasn't ready and he stopped for 14+ seconds as a result.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Also Vettel blew 2 engines in this weekend itself. If what commentators were saying is right, he has only 1 fresh engine left. Any more new engines after that will get him 10 grid places penalty. So Vettel's already slim chances are almost gone.

Engine use until the German GP. Red indicates that the engine has completed its cycle. Blue indicated a blown engine. I believe Vettel lost engine 5 in practice. Not sure which one he lost in the race.

[GTO]

Didn't I tell you guys that Barri is the one to watch out for. Well-deserved win, he didn't put a damn wheel wrong!! Button has to raise his game if we wants to hold on to the championship lead. Button had the quickest car (as proven by Barri), yet had a disappointing run. He can't afford to have low days in such ideal conditions. The Red Bulls match Brawn on most tracks now, and the big boys are catching up too.

In a street circuit where track position's important, McLaren's strategy could backfire.

The car, driver & strategy were alright. It's Mac which shot themselves in the foot! Looks like its going to take some time for them to get used to fighting for P1, what a guffaw of a pitstop.

Seemed to be one of Kimi's good days. Strong performance. If only he could maintain this pace throughout the year. Luca Badoer? I think he forgot that we was racing. Seemed to be merely testing the car .

Did you guys realise that Vettel is running out of engines?