October 8, 2010

Japanese GP Practice: RedBulls Fly, Hamilton Turns in Early



Wow, that's three crashes in three racing week ends for Lewis Hamilton. This one, in the the first Friday practice session, was especially strange: he just turned in too early and went straight off on exit. Brain fade which cost him a lot of track time, only ran his Mclaren nine laps in the first practice and eight in the second.

Red Bulls dominated, seven tenths to the next fastest car, Renault. Almost nine tenths to Alonso' Ferrari! However, there is a good chance qualifying will to be in the wet.


Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:31.465 31
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:31.860 + 0.395 29
3. Kubica Renault 1:32.200 + 0.735 32
4. Alonso Ferrari 1:32.362 + 0.897 34
5. Massa Ferrari 1:32.519 + 1.054 35
6. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.533 + 1.068 28
7. Petrov Renault 1:32.703 + 1.238 32
8. Schumacher Mercedes 1:32.831 + 1.366 27
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:32.842 + 1.377 26
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:32.851 + 1.386 26
11. Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.880 + 1.415 26
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.471 + 2.006 31
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.481 + 2.016 8
14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:33.564 + 2.099 16
15. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.697 + 2.232 33
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.005 + 2.540 32
17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.055 + 2.590 37
18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:34.310 + 2.845 33
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:36.095 + 4.630 37
20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:36.333 + 4.868 33
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:36.630 + 5.165 28
22. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:36.834 + 5.369 28
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:37.352 + 5.887 33
24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:37.831 + 6.366 34

All Timing Unofficial


end of post

8 comments:

  1. In my humble opinion, Hamilton was carrying too much speed and turned in a little bit too late...

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  2. @Edson too much speed for sure but he hits the apex and then runs out of track, that is classic early entry. He underestimated the amount of front end grip. Hey, it happens to the best of them, remember Alonso in Monaco?

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  3. I hate that corner with a passion anyway.

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  4. What a tricky bit of circuit Suzuka is from turn 1 up to the bridge. What a spectacular layout.

    If I could do a DE at any foreign circuit it would be tough to deny Spa, but I think I would choose Suzuka.

    Webber FTW

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  5. yeah, yeah... you guys are right... lol
    i've repeated that corner turn-in about a hundred times just to make myself sure, and indeed he turned a bit early...
    but still weird because we should've run over the kerbs...
    anyway, my apologies =D

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  6. Those Degners are a bear to get right.

    Sure, I'm only speaking from the experience of having done it in racing sims, but they're diabolically easy to get way wrong.

    The problem always seems to be that you come into the first one with too much speed (it looks faster than it is), but you momentarily think it's going to be okay until you say to yourself: "Oh man. That short chute between the 1st & 2nd Degner is shorter than I remember."

    And THEN you realize that the 2nd of the corners is way sharper than you either remembered, or your forward momentum can handle.

    By then, even if you lock up all four wheels it's too late and you end up thumping that wall just like Hamilton.

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  7. I'm not sure if anyone has told him, but when that situation happens all he has to do is hit the start button on his wheel, which brings up the options menu, and then he can click "Return To Garage" and the team can just fix up his car in 3 to 5 minutes, and he can get back out there, instead of standing around looking depressed.

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  8. He attacked the first corner probably too fast but managed to sort it out through the turn. By the time he got the car settled and controlled he'd run out of braking zone and off he went. Too bad - I'm hoping for a good race with the three front runners this weekend.

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