View Full Version : The Official 2009 Spain Grand Prix Thread
Though I should start one in lieu of the head fanatics absence.
Now you who know me dont want me writing a synopsis. Whoever did a good job on the last one is welcome to do one here. All I know is practice is 6am on SpeedHD tomorrow.
Good job DJ Lazy:
http://www.planetf1.com/Images/PlanetF1/Circuits/c_24.jpg
Length: 4.655 kilometers
No of Laps: 66
Race Distance: 307.104 km
Lap Record: 1:21.670 - K Raikkonen (2008)
TV Schedule:
FRI Practice 1 May 8, 2:00am (prolly on justin.tv)
FRI Practice 2 May 8, 6:00am (Speed)
SAT Qualifying May 9, 6:00am (Speed, TSN)
Acura Prerace May 10, 5:30am (Speed)
SUN Race May 10, 6:00am (Speed, TSN)
History:
One of the most advanced circuits on the grand prix calendar, the Circuit de Catalunya is modern but also has character. There are a variety of corners, a short straight and a long pit straight.
The circuit was first used in 1991 and was also the centre piece of Spain's Olympic year in 1992.
The circuit and its facilities are constantly upgraded by progressive management. Last year enlarged run off areas were built at several locations, together with a modification at Nissan.
Demanding fast corners and a long high-speed straight makes this a real test.
Not quite the same as usual, but most of the details are there..
DJ Lazy
05-07-2009, 07:19 PM
http://www.planetf1.com/Images/PlanetF1/Circuits/c_24.jpg
Length: 4.655 kilometers
No of Laps: 66
Race Distance: 307.104 km
Lap Record: 1:21.670 - K Raikkonen (2008)
TV Schedule:
FRI Practice 1 May 8, 2:00am (prolly on justin.tv)
FRI Practice 2 May 8, 6:00am (Speed)
SAT Qualifying May 9, 6:00am (Speed, TSN)
Acura Prerace May 10, 5:30am (Speed)
SUN Race May 10, 6:00am (Speed, TSN)
History:
One of the most advanced circuits on the grand prix calendar, the Circuit de Catalunya is modern but also has character. There are a variety of corners, a short straight and a long pit straight.
The circuit was first used in 1991 and was also the centre piece of Spain's Olympic year in 1992.
The circuit and its facilities are constantly upgraded by progressive management. Last year enlarged run off areas were built at several locations, together with a modification at Nissan.
Demanding fast corners and a long high-speed straight makes this a real test.
Not quite the same as usual, but most of the details are there..
Passing isn't easy on this course, it's being heralded as the true test for the OWA's hard work. Of course with the majority of teams running twin diffusers, which undermine the clean air initiative, who knows what we'll see?
Ferrari has given Kimi a lighter chassis in order to better handle KERS, as well they've made extensive upgrades which should (Here's hoping they fail) improve the reliability of it.
Most teams are running large aero upgrade packages which should make for a tighter pack this race.
Weather is supposed to be dry.
just watched friday practice. Surprised how fast they were in even practice. Sucks for Buemi, hopefully his car is good and working for the race, he has been doing so well.
Looks nice there..... would be nice to be there........ ahhem rage.
rage2
05-08-2009, 11:22 PM
Heading out to the track now, it looks like it's gonna rain today for FP3 and qualifying. At a minimum, light drizzle I think!
Inzane
05-09-2009, 12:35 AM
Originally posted by Mibz
(Here's hoping they fail)
:guns:
rage2
05-09-2009, 05:01 AM
definately no rain now all the clouds are gona and it's hot as shit haha
DJ Lazy
05-09-2009, 05:55 AM
Fuck... I gotta go to work... Gonna have to download qualifying when I get home!
RickDaTuner
05-09-2009, 06:23 AM
WTF Raikkonen:dunno: :nut:
The dude sets the track record and then fails Q1... :drama:
buh_buh
05-09-2009, 01:50 PM
:rofl: @ Ferrari making the same mistake AGAIN. Kimi deserves an ice cream for this one. What a beauty lap by Button in Q3. Rubens was quicker all weekend, but Button pulls one out of his ass. This lap was one that wasn't just all car. Credit to Button on this one.
I haven't looked at the fuel loads yet, but I'm guessing RBR is a lap or two heavier than Brawn (even more so if he's stopping on lap 27 :rofl: ). Alonso is most likely light since its his home race.
DJ Lazy
05-09-2009, 10:01 PM
That was a crazy Q3 session... :eek:
rage2
05-09-2009, 10:27 PM
Fucking 6:24am still tipsy :rofl:
Ya Q3 was fucking crazy. When Button made it across the line with 2 seconds left, I was thinking that was kinda close. Then he takes pole away in spectactular fashion from Vettel. Crazy! I gave him a standing applause when he drove by turn 1.
Spanish fans are fucking retarded here. They keep standing up and clapping every single lap Alonso drives by. Even when he keeps dropping down the order. WTF?
And buh_buh, good call on Kangaroo TV. It's like having live timing screens with 8x more data right in front of you (I'm not really using it for video). BBC commentary is nice too.
Gotta get ready to hit the track now!
well just finished reading and watching some 'opinions'. Here is to hoping for the correct guesses.
Gotta make some ground up.
Looks nice there rage, nicer than here. I got hailed on today riding my bike. :banghead:
DJ Lazy
05-10-2009, 05:41 AM
Mibz... why didn't you get your picks in this week??
DJ Lazy
05-10-2009, 07:48 AM
Fucking Massa and Ferrari... Cost me alot of points today!!!
Pretty boring (dry) race though.. Very little overtaking, and other than the 4 cars out at the beginning not much action..
Revhard
05-10-2009, 09:06 AM
Reubens was really driving in stint 2 there. He is gonna win one yet!!!
Brawn really showing how good the team and the cars are.
It was still good to watch, what with Massa's genius team and their bunk fuel strategy.
That team has really gone down, and terrible reliability with Kimi's car.
Reminds me of his days with McLaren when the car would not stay together.
Red Bull is taking it to the big-money teams too. I really like the rule changes for this year.
It's a bad year to be a Hamilton fan, but I'm still hoping he'll do something.
RickDaTuner
05-10-2009, 09:24 AM
Originally posted by Revhard
what with Massa's genius team and their bunk fuel strategy.
It was a Fuel delivery problem during pit #2, he missed out on 16 liters I think it was...
Though to be a Ferrari driver right now:dunno:
rage2
05-10-2009, 10:39 AM
Man when Hamilton got passed by Alonso coming out of the pits, all the fucking ppl around me cheered like crazy. I cried a little. :cry:
Stupid spaniards haha.
DJ Lazy
05-10-2009, 11:17 AM
We expect excellent photos upon your return rage! :thumbsup:
buh_buh
05-10-2009, 01:50 PM
I wonder if the 3 stopper by Barrichello is BGP's new form of team orders, or if Barrichello insisted on the 3 stopper since he did say he felt more comfortable and didn't have the pace Button did with a big fuel load. Either way, Barrichello would've won on a 2 stopper, and second race in a row the 3 stopper cost him a position.
Ferrari, WTF is going on with their strategy? A monkey can run a team better than them right now. They have been steadily going downhill since the departure of Brawn, Todt and Schumi. They need to get their shit together.
"Felipe fuck... uh..." :rofl:
buh_buh
05-10-2009, 04:31 PM
There's a lot of talk of team orders now with the Button win and here's my take on it. I didn't have live timing since I didn't watch it live, so the numbers are just based on graphics provided by FOM during the race:
After the first stop by both Rubens and Button, Rubens was lapping ~1s faster than Button. By the time Rubens made his second stop, his gap to Button was 13.6. After Rubens' second stop, he started losing time to Button, even though he was on the lighter fuel load. The gap throughout the stint showed Rubens losing about 1/10th per lap when he needed to be constantly gaining on Button, and at one point showed Rubens lapping at 1.24.0 v Button 1.23.4 and this is where I believe he lost the race. On a 3 stopper, you pretty much need a perfect race, and to bust ass the entire race, and not be held up by any traffic. Rubens was lapping slower than Button when he needed to be constantly gaining ground on a 3 stopper, and he just proved today (although we already knew) he's no Michael. Rubens needed to get on it when he was on options and Button came in and switched to prime for his final stint, but the gap remained the same at 15.4 after Button's stop even though Rubens was on option and Button was on prime. Rubens did pit a little early on his last stop, but there was traffic ahead of him, and I suspect they pulled him in early to avoid the it. He did have clear track after his 3rd stop, but kept losing time to Button and couldn't even shake Webber on his last stint, and by then it was clear he couldn't pull it off. He did say he had a problem with the car in his 3rd stint, but that may just be some PR bullshit in an attempt to calm some of the team order talks.
Brawn and Fry said after the race they wanted different strategies because they thought Barrichello was holding up Button, and didn't want Massa or Vettel to compromise their pace, so put them on different strategies, which makes some sense, although typically its the guy behind you put on the 3 stopper and you give the guy ahead the easier 2 stopper, so they may have intended the 3 stopper to slow down Rubens to put Button ahead, but Rubens still had a chance of winning had he perfectly executed the 3 stopper, but he lost it after his second stop and didn't have the pace to keep pulling a gap to Button and the rest of the field. But Rubens would've easily won the race had he been the one on the 2 stopper and Button on the 3, so this may all be moot haha.
Originally posted by DJ Lazy
Mibz... why didn't you get your picks in this week?? Road trip to Edmonton for an SRT meet/BBQ. $2.75 cocktails at our hotel. The only time I would've been able to make picks (after qualifying) would've been between the BBQ and the drink-fest. I totally forgot. I woke up this morning and just about cried when I realized it. Looks like it was a shitty weekend for everybody though, so I may be able to catch back up.
I missed qualifying, I missed the race, I missed my picks, but it was still a sweet weekend.
Inzane
05-10-2009, 06:38 PM
Originally posted by buh_buh
"Felipe fuck... uh..." :rofl:
Didn't he get as far as "Felipe fucked up..... uh..."?
:D
rage2
05-11-2009, 01:43 AM
Kev, I shot this one for you haha.
Button Victory Lap:
http://www.virgeweb.com/rage2/f1/brawnspain.jpg
Team_Mclaren
05-11-2009, 01:08 PM
fuck you have to feel for Barrichello tho... the guy works his ass off and gets ripped by his own team. fuck Brawn:banghead:
Chandler_Racing
05-11-2009, 02:45 PM
Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
fuck you have to feel for Barrichello tho... the guy works his ass off and gets ripped by his own team. fuck Brawn:banghead:
I like how you can conclude with absolute certainty that the pass was directly a result of team orders. :nut:
I don't see how you can "feel" for the guy considering he is in the quickest car on the grid. Brawn took Rubens from a back marker to racing in a car that not only contends for the drivers and constructors, but most likely will win both.
Ask Rubens his opinion of Brawn after the year / when he retires and I assure you it will be one of respect and appreciation. Not, the short end of the stick as you so seem to infer.
buh_buh
05-11-2009, 05:01 PM
I don't know if Barrichello was deliberately scammed out of a win, but he definitely should've won had he gone on a 2 stopper. So he may have been ripped off by his team, but the same could be said for Vettel, who would've most likely finished second had he run even 1 more lap than Massa on either of his stops.
Team_Mclaren
05-11-2009, 05:21 PM
Originally posted by Chandler_Racing
I like how you can conclude with absolute certainty that the pass was directly a result of team orders. :nut:
I don't see how you can "feel" for the guy considering he is in the quickest car on the grid. Brawn took Rubens from a back marker to racing in a car that not only contends for the drivers and constructors, but most likely will win both.
Ask Rubens his opinion of Brawn after the year / when he retires and I assure you it will be one of respect and appreciation. Not, the short end of the stick as you so seem to infer.
you can say the same about jenson... who prior to this year has won ONCE. So what makes Jenson more deserving for a win than Ruben?
We will never know that if its team order or not, but the fact is he easily could've won the GP if he also switch on a two stop. Why his race engineer decided that he should go for a 3 stopper is beyond all of us, Ruben included.
Read all the post race comments, he's royally pissed that he didn't get the win and threaten to leave Brawn if there was in fact a team order involved (not that he or us will ever find out).
buh_buh
05-11-2009, 05:25 PM
he's more deserving because he won 3 out of the last 4 and currently has the best chance at the wdc. If Rubens had won the first few races, I'm almost positive Button would've "stayed" on the 3 stopper.
Team_Mclaren
05-11-2009, 05:37 PM
Originally posted by buh_buh
he's more deserving because he won 3 out of the last 4 and currently has the best chance at the wdc. If Rubens had won the first few races, I'm almost positive Button would've "stayed" on the 3 stopper.
exactly, so its in the team's best interest to have Jenson win over Ruben, which means... team order...
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.