Tire Trivia: 2011 Formula 1 in figures

Pirelli was kind enough to pull out their excel and quantify the 2011 season for us.
DRS made this a record year for passing, though many will contend a DRS pass is more a change of position than a real pass, there were 1120 passes in 2011. A record also for the number of pit stops, 1111.
That and Vettel is slow at at least one thing...

TIRES

Total number of tires provided to the teams in 2011: 34600. Of those 24000 dry, 4600 wets and 6000 for testing.
Tires actually used: 21000 dry, 2900 wet.

Weight of balled up rubber left on the track in 2011: 10200kg / 22,487 lb.

Number of recycled tires : all 34600.

Average life of a dry weather tire: 120km/74.5miles



TRACKS AND RACES:

Toughest tracks on tire (lateral load, braking, traction) : Barcellona and Suzuka
Easiest track on tires: Monza

Most continuous stress on a tire: Turn 8 Istambul.
Least continuous stresses: Montreal

Longest race of the year : Montreal 4h 04min 39.537s
Shortest race: Monza 1h 20min 46.272s

New pole position track records beat; 11
New race track records beat: 2

Most laps led: 739 (Sebastian Vettel)
Highest Speed: 349.2km/h /216.98 mph (Sergio Perez in qualifying at Monza)



PIT STOPS

Total number of pitstops: 1111 (with 22 drive through and 4 stop and go penalties)
Average number of stops per race; 58.4 or 2.25 per driver.
Highest number of stops in a single race: Hungary with 88 including 3 drive through)
Lowest number of stops on a single race: Italy with 35.

Fastest pitstop: 2.82 seconds by Mercedes GP in China



PASSING

Number of position changes (as of Abu Dhabi): 1120, the highest in F1 history.
Most passes in a dry race: 126 Turkish GP
Most passes in a wet race: 125 Canadian GP



OTHER FACTS

Number of drivers who tried Pirelli PZero F1 tires: 57 (including 3rd drivers and young drivers)
Oldest driver to have driven on Pirelli in 2011: Martin Brundle (51)
Youngest driver: Kevin Ceccon (18)
Total distance covered by all Pirelli tires in 2011: 307,657 km/191,169 miles

Coldest track temperatures: race Germany 13C/55F, test 6C/42F
Warmest track temperatures: race Abu Dhabi 43C/109.4F test Abu Dhabi 49C/120.2F

Total weight handled by every Pirelli tire fitter during the 2011 season: 16,389 kg/ 36,131lb
Average time it takes a Pirelli tech to mount an F1 tire: 2m30s
Time it took Sebasian Vettel to mount a Pzero F1: 5m13s.



(Pirelli)

Be Sebastian Vettel for 11 minutes

I was thinking about all those drivers who claim to be Senna reincarnated, who wear his colors, who issue press releases about their visit to his grave and talk about him incessantly any chance they get.

I remember one of Senna's talents being his incredible ability at some point in qualifying, to put the hammer down in a way designed to destroy the opposition, usually right after they thought they had his number. He would find time where there seemed to be none or at least, where nobody else could find any.

In Brazil on Saturday, the most "Senna" of drivers was not wearing a replica helmet, he's a driver very much his own man at the moment. His pole lap, the last lap, was just phenomenal, the fastest of the week end.

Enjoy this rare treat, eleven minutes onboard with the 2010-11 Champion Sebastian Vettel in the mighty RB7 at the Autodromo Carlos Pace in São Paulo.

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Was Vettel's tire melted by his exhaust in Abu Dhabi?

That is the scenario raised by Italy's Autosprint. Autosprint is Italy's premiere motorsport magazine, published since 1961 and in my experience almost always on target.

If a manufacturing defect can be ruled out since the tire was used for qualifying and no debris or shards were found by anyone in turn 1 at Yas Marina, the cause had to be something else.

"Launch Start Cycle" would be the culprit, a procedure that takes advantage of the hot exhaust blowing on the rear tires sidewalls to bring them up to temperature better. In Abu Dhabi something went wrong and the sidewalls became overheated. A wrong sequence, incorrect engine map, external circumstances, that is not known but one thing is certain, Red Bull was quite cagey about the cause and especially about showing its removed floor pan to TV cameras.

This scenario is given more credibility with today's announcement by Pirelli that no structural failure was found on the Red Bull's tire.

It's ironic, Autosprint points out, that those same exhausts which have been the key to Red Bull's advantage this season were also the cause of their of their first retirement.

(Autosprint) .

Vettel fails, Massa flails, Alonso digs but Hamilton wins

(photos by Mark Farouk for Axis)

Lewis Hamilton had the lead of the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix handed to him after just two corners when Vettel's right rear tire very mysteriously deflated and German skidded off the track. Hamilton made the most of it running a perfect race hounded by an Alonso ready to capitalize on any tiny error Lewis might make. He made none. Lewis even smiled after the race and dedicated the win to his mom...how sweet. British F1 coverage seems to be in full Dr.Phil mode right now, all happy bubbles and therapy. I wish they'd man up a bit.

Alonso made a brilliant start ripping past Webber and Button on the fist lap. He came close to threatening Hamilton on the second pit stop overlap but then once on the harder tire, he could not overcome the Ferrari 150's well known issues.

Lackluster races from Webber who once again wen backwards at the start and Massa, inexplicably confirmed by Ferrari for 2012.

Stunning performance, not in a good way, by Pastor "Chavez Chicane" Maldonado who was literally a moving chicane out there. Big fail from Toro Rosso too, all and all a bad week end for the Red Bull Empire, which is not a bad thing for F1 in general at this point!



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"Maybe I helped him understand his speed"

I thought the most interesting bit of the 2011 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying happened during the press conference. Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button both went into a bit of detail about what it takes to put together the perfect lap at Yas Marina. I really wish there was a platform for these guys to talk more about what they do on a technical level, I'm sick of hearing generalities and canned statements, I want to hear about turn in, camber, how to set a differential, line...


(photos via: motorionline.it)

Along those lines, I was reading Red Bulletin, who published a special Vettel edition highlighting some of the important people in his career and development. Tantalizing was the piece from Giorgio Ascanelli:

"
"Maybe I helped him understand his speed”
Giorgio ‘THE EDUCATOR’ Ascanelli technical director, scuderia Toro Rosso.

Nobody made Vettel. I certainly did not make him! He made himself. But at the 2008 european gp, in Valencia, something significant happened. Sebastian was driving for us that year, of course, and it was a funny weekend. There were a few new things on the car and the circuit were new for everybody.
I believed it was fundamental that Sebastian learned the circuit, more than anything else. In morning practice, he was the fastest driver, for the first time.

Then in the afternoon I noticed a lap which was extraordinary: with worn tyres and a heavy fuel load, he was still extremely fast.
When we spoke about the lap and looked at the data he wasn’t quite sure how he had done this, so I told him to go away and think about it.

Then the next day, Saturday, he came in and we chatted and he told me “I know what I did.” But I didn’t ask him exactly what that was. That’s for him to know. It’s his secret of being fast, if you like.
I just wanted him to think about the process of his driving and register it, mentally.

Something else that we gave him as a team, was that we gave him our complete trust when he came to us and that enabled him to trust us, too.
His first race for us was at the Hungarian gp, and that’s not an easy track. He made a mistake in qualifying and immediately said, “I made a mistake.” normally the racing driver’s book of excuses is longer than War and peace, so this was refreshing.
In general I don’t find it hard to be unpleasant, but it was hard to be unpleasant to Sebastian.
And he was always thinking, which allowed for a discussion about performance and not an argument"




Yeah, we'll never know their ultimate speed secrets but I sure would like to know more than we get now. I'm less and less interested about their family melodramas, I'm more into understanding exactly why Massa is almost always a half second behind Alonso in the same car. Or even how Ricciardo is kicking Liuzzi's butt.

Check out more on Red Bulletin, there are essays by Guillaume Roquelin, Mario Theissen, Riccardo Adami, Christian Horner and Gerd Noack, the man who first spotted Vettel as a eight (yeah, eight) year old karter at the Schumacher owned track in Kerpen. Fascinating stuff

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Get a room already!

How Felipe Massa though he could leave the door open that much and have Hamilton NOT hit him we'll never know. It's not like it's the first time Hamilton has tried that exact move. Just in Monaco he did it twice, to Massa at the hairpin and to Maldonado at St.Devote, both resulting in epic fails for the Brit.

The issue here is that Hamilton has decided he is Senna and he saw the movie, and he read the quote about going for the gap every time, blah blah blah. It's obvious Lewis believes people should just move out of the way when he makes any move, thus his surprised whine after the incident.
But he is not Senna, this is a different century and a different Formula 1. That Hamilton believes anyone in the top tier (and some in the second tier) will move aside goes a long way towards explaining why he painted Bob Marley on his helmet. Pass it over Lewis!

Massa's penalty is proof the incessant whining about being "singled out", is working for Hamilton. That and having Johnny Herbert as the "expert" steward in India. That was at best a racing incident, but judge for yourself after the jump.

Other than this incident, nothing really happened at the Indian GP, just a boring procession with the usual results. Big losers have to be Webber and Hamilton and possibly Force India for a rather poor showing in front of the home crowd.

2011 Korean GP

The F1 boys ended up putting on a fairly decent show at times on that wretched, wretched track in Korea. The highlight was certainly that scrap between Webber and Hamilton, good stuff, clean too.

Hamilton drove, dare I say it, a Button-esque race. He saved his tires and was able to keep a traction challenged Webber behind. Well done. He was still sad though, perhaps those voices saying he's pining for Nicole are correct. Maybe he saw the terms of Button's new contract, more likely, he was not happy going backwards from his grid spot again.

Meanwhile, Vettel made a decisive pass on Hamilton and never really looked back. The guy's gunning for Schumacher's single season wins, I'm not betting against him pulling it off, do you?

Back in the Ferrari camp Massa still hasn't figured out Fernando really IS faster than him and wend about "destroying" his race. Alonso destroyed him once he passed him in the pits, it was embarrassing.

And how about Petrov? Between the custom inspector's kid and the legend's nephew, what an embarrassing week end for the Lotus Renault team!

The best news I heard is that the Korean GP is having financial issues. That track is possibly the most miserable on the circuit, I don't think too many would miss it.



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A pole, a pout and a pass

Hamilton got a fantastic pole, first in many months but then was bizarrely morose as he got out of the car and during the post qualifying conference. Massive hissy fit of just woken up on the wrong side of the bed, something's going on in there.

Tomorrow it will be early stops to get rid of the "red" Pirellis and then a race to see who can make their primes last. RBR might try for a 2 stopper.



Meanwhile, Vettel got an inexplicable freebee when stewards decided not to penalize him for cutting the track on his in lap after his first Q3 run. I would have thought you could make the argument that, in a game of seconds and ounces, cutting gave him extra flexibility in the garage. In the big scheme of things it means little but it certainly sets a bizarre precedent.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m35.820s
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m36.042s  + 0.222
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m36.126s  + 0.306
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m36.468s  + 0.648
 5.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m36.831s  + 1.011
 6.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m36.980s  + 1.160
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m37.754s  + 1.934
 8.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m38.124s  + 2.304
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes no time
10.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes no time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m38.254s                                   Gap **
11.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.315s   + 1.789
12.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m38.354s   + 1.828
13.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.508s   + 1.982
14.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.775s   + 2.249
15.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m38.791s   + 2.265
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m39.189s   + 2.663
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m39.443s   + 2.917
Q1 cut-off time: 1m39.464s                                    Gap *
18.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m39.538s   + 2.013
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m40.522s   + 2.997
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m41.101s   + 3.576
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m42.091s   + 4.566
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m43.483s   + 5.958
23.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m43.758s   + 6.233
24.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         no time

107% time: 1m44.351s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

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Last Year in Korea

There's not much riding on this year's race but bragging rights and constructor points but last year it was quite a different story and wow, what a difference a year makes, no engine failures so far for Red Bull at all.

Here is last year's write up

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2011 Japanese GP: Ring Ding Ding edition

There have been a number of incidents in the last couple of years where teams and drivers have been criticized for making the safe play and banking precious points. If anything Sunday's race in Japan shows how very important it is to get the job done and over with.

Sebastian Vettel may be criticized for some for his very Schumacher-esque opening move on gentleman Jenson Button but, let's get real, this is F1, he was on pole and he made the move to defend his position. Why every yard counts became clear later in the race, when a combination of Jenson's mastery of tire management and less than perfect timing by Red Bull relegated Vettel to P2 and later P3 behind Alonso's Ferrari. Sure Vettel needed only one point but you just can never take anything for granted when the big prize is in site.



In the latter stages of the race Red Bull sent out the order for Vetter (and Webber) to hold station, Safe, yes but it's obvious Mclaren has developed a car that is a real threat and who knows what could happen in the remaining races, you have a chance to seal a Championship, you do it. period.

There is little doubt Vettel is a deserving double champion. Red Bull gave him an awesome car but, as Webber showed this season, that is not enough. Seb made many mistakes in the past, but unlike other highly regarded drivers in the field, he has not repeated them, he learned from the past.

Speaking of, the Massa, Hamilton thing is getting to be comical. Those two are like those magnetic dog toys, always finding each others butt. I'm not sure how Massa thought he was going to pass Hamilton on the outside of the chicane, but for sure Ham turned out on him. His, not doubt PR scripted, excuse was that he could not see him. Balls, but whatever.

The podium in Japan saw the best drivers in Formula 1 at this moment in time, one single and two double World Champions. A good snapshot of this season and, hopefully a prelude of things to come. Next year the storyline will be the fight among those three and the outsider, Hamilton trying to get his game back together and into the top tier once again.



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As the Ham turns...

Today Lewis Hamilton managed to blow his chance at pole and destroy Schumacher and Webber's final go in the process. Afterwards he flipped off Grandpa in the pits and complained to the media that Schumacher's pass was dangerous, despite having done precisely the same himself in Singapore two weeks ago.

Hamilton slowed down too much to get a gap for his final flying lap leaving no choice for Webber and Schumacher but go around him or risk not making the cut. Webber made it, Schumacher ended up with dirt all over his tires and out of time and Hamilton, well, he was left hanging.

Prediction for tomorrow's race? Well, given how Vettel pulled 4/10ths out of the hat just like that and how RBR has been solid on long runs, he will run away with it.
If we are lucky, either Hamilton or Alonso will do something fun at the start and get around. If that happens perhaps Vettel will want to push and win the championship with a win, not points. Hey there's always hope, right?

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time         Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m30.466s           
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m30.475s  + 0.009  
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m30.617s  + 0.151  
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m30.804s  + 0.338  
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m30.886s  + 0.420  
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m31.156s  + 0.690  
 7.  Kamui Kobayashi        Sauber             no time                
 8.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              no time                
 9.  Bruno Senna           Renault              no time                
10.  Michael Schumacher       Mercedes       no time                

Q2 cut-off time: 1m32.380s                                   Gap **
11.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m32.463s  + 1.997
12.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m32.746s  + 2.280
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m33.079s  + 2.613
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m33.224s  + 2.758
15.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m33.227s  + 2.761
16.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m33.427s  + 2.961
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       no time           
Q1 cut-off time: 1m35.111s                                   Gap *
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m35.454s   + 4.988     
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m35.514s   + 5.048     
20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m36.439s   + 5.973     
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m36.507s   + 6.041     
22.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m37.846s   + 7.380     
23.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             no time                 
24.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         no time                 

107% time: 1m39.109s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

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2011 Singapore GP

Sebastian Vettel controlled and dominated the week end once again. He is 9 for 14 this season, enough said.

Three points about the 2011 Singapore GP

Safety car:
Brilliant people work in Formula 1, nobody can figure out how to sort out the safety car rules properly? Lapped cars should go around. And Formula1 drivers can't figure out you should stick close to the safety car?
The restart in Singapore was a joke, with Vettel able to get over a five second lead by the time they crossed the release line! Race control seemed to be allergic to blue flags in Singapore.

Hamilton:
Should he have been given a penalty? Well, by the letter of the rules, he certainly did cause an avoidable accident, there is no question there. Had Massa not gotten a puncture he would not have gotten penalized I would rather he had not been penalized than have to hear all the bellyaching about it.
What about Schumacher, the Ham brigade might protest, Hamilton gets penalized only because he's Hamilton... In Schumacher's case he put himself out and Perez was able to continue.

What's amazing is that Hamilton would make such a rookie mistake, Massa had out braked him into that corner and was fully ahead, Hamilton just turned in too early. He certainly needs to sort his mental game. He should ask Fernando some advice on how to keep cool and get the best out of what he has under him at the moment.

The track:
Looks cool under the lights and I'm sure journalist love to go there but man, Formula 1, concrete barriers and those awful curb chicanes don't mix.

Highlights after the jump

The Lewis and Felipe Show.

This will be "the incident" the 2011 Singapore GP will be remembered for. In the end it's racing and frankly neither one of these two is the sharpest pencil in the F1 box at the moment. Hamilton was pretty shameful bitching at his team for the qualifying mistake and then declaring he does not want to be lame like Barrichello (Ok that was kind of funny). You can't do that, not when you are going to have a start like that and then make a mistake like he did with Massa. Note that that is not the first time Massa does something like that, a few years back when he bumped with Alonso they had words after the race, or more precisely Massa went at it, Alonso just smiled and brushed it off. Then again Alonso won that race. Lewis instead threw a hissy fit. Oh well, at least he lucked out with Grandpa Schumi's crash and ended up in the points after all. Drivers of the race: Vettel for being an alien and, again, Jenson Button for being in a state of grace right now. I think that really is what's driving Hamilton off the deep end: he will enter 2012 as a de facto #2 at Mclaren in many people's eyes .

Eventful practice in Singapore

Curbs and wall... .

2011 Italian GP: the Michael and Lewis show.

It was an exciting race...for three laps, then it became an interesting race to fill the rest of the podium.

It would have been an even shorter race for first had Alonso not managed to shoot around everyone, driving his Ferrari on the grass from fourth place on the grid to first at the end of the straight. The tifosi's roar could be heard over the field of 24 screaming Formula 1 cars.
Liuzzi tried the same move, over precisely the same patch of grass and quickly ran out of talent and taking out Rosberg and Petrov and giving herr Maylander a few laps in the big SLS safety car.

That mess just delayed the inevitable for one lap. On lap three, Vettel put in a spectacular move on Alonso and from then on, he was gone. Pole, win and fast lap, complete domination.

Two lingering questions have been answered this week end: of course Vettel can race and yes Schumacher still has a place in Formula 1. Vettel's pass on the Ferrari at 200 mph with two wheels in the dirt has to be one of the moves of the year and the fight between "Grandpa" Michael and Hamilton was just great fun to watch.

Well, probably not if you are a big Hamilton fan as Lewis was the big loser today (along with Mark Webber).
Lewis has to be seething, he could not not get free of Schumacher despite the Mclaren being clearly the second best car in the field. After Spa Lewis made such a big deal about passing Alonso on the outside, he must have freaked when Schumacher re- passed him on the outside on the Curva Grande. In a post race interview Lewis certainly smirked enough to make it clear that he was saying one thing but thinking another when asked about the Schumacher duel. Probably a good thing, looking at the onboards, Schumi's supposed weaving does not look as extreme and the fact remains that Jenson Button was able to dispatch the German in less than half a lap.

However you feel about the fight between Hammy and Schumi, It was great to see some sustained hard racing for a change.


(photo: Steve Etherington/LAT Photographic/ agpc)

Vettel is obviously World Champion, but it's great to see he will not go all Prost on us and be content to cruise for the rest of the season, I'm positive he would not be happy to clinch the championship with anything less than a win.

Another great race by Jenson Button who is really the man at Mclaren right now, fantastic pass on Schumacher , had to laugh when I heard him say he closed his eyes and went for it. Fernando Alonso managed a third which is good for second place in the championship over Button, Webber and Hamilton, not bad considering the Ferrari is certainly the third best car on the grid.

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h20:46.172
 2.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     9.590
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    16.909
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    17.471
 5.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    32.677
 6.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    42.993
 7.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
 8.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 9.  Senna         Renault                    +     1 lap
10.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
11.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
12.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
13.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap
14.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
15.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:26.187

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth                 40
Perez         Sauber-Ferrari               34
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               23
Sutil         Force India-Mercedes         11
Webber        Red Bull-Renault             6
D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth              3
Petrov        Renault                      1
Rosberg       Mercedes                     1
Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth                 1


World Championship standings, round 13:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       284        1.  Red Bull-Renault          451
 2.  Alonso       172        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          325
 3.  Webber       167        3.  Ferrari                   254
 4.  Button       167        4.  Mercedes                  108
 5.  Hamilton     158        5.  Renault                    70
 6.  Massa         82        6.  Force India-Mercedes       36
 7.  Rosberg       56        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             35
 8.  Schumacher    52        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         29
 9.  Petrov        34        9.  Williams-Cosworth           5
10.  Heidfeld      34       
11.  Kobayashi     27       
12.  Sutil         24       
13.  Alguersuari   16       
14.  Buemi         13       
15.  Di Resta      12       
16.  Perez          8       
17.  Barrichello    4       
18.  Senna          2       
19.  Maldonado      1       
       

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Top gear: 2011 Italian GP Qualifying

They say Red Bull may have chosen the wrong gear ratios for the race but check out this little number by Sebastian Vettel at Ascari.
Any doubts as to how perfectly set up to Seb's style and how balanced the RB7 is, should be put to rest by the seeming effortless way Vettel pulls this off.

Stunning.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m22.275s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m22.725s   + 0.450
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m22.777s   + 0.502
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m22.841s   + 0.566
 5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m22.972s   + 0.697
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m23.188s   + 0.913
 7.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m23.530s   + 1.255
 8.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m23.777s   + 1.502
 9.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m24.477s   + 2.202
10.  Bruno Senna           Renault              No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m24.157s                                   Gap **
11.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m24.163s   + 1.249
12.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m24.209s   + 1.295
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m24.648s   + 1.734
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m24.726s   + 1.812
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m24.845s   + 1.931
16.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m24.932s   + 2.018
17.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m25.065s   + 2.151
Q1 cut-off time: 1m25.164s                                    Gap *
18.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m25.334s   + 1.358
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m26.647s   + 2.671
20.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m27.184s   + 3.208
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m27.591s   + 3.615
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m27.609s   + 3.633
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m28.054s   + 4.078
24.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m28.231s   + 4.255

107% time: 1m29.854s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

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Pirelli Rules

Pirelli with the FIA imposed a limit on how Formula 1 teams can set up camber on their own cars, this because of the blistering issues especially Red Bull was having in Spa. For Pirelli the concern is from a PR point of view, the public just will a tire fail not a team that risked an extreme setup and ruined perfectly good rubber. Too bad having to limit another risk/reward variable in F1, but of course, like every technical partner, Pirelli is in F1 to show off its know-how, not to have tires fail.

In the clip above, from Motosportblog.it, some highlights from Pirelli great racing history. The company was started in Milan in 1872 by then twenty four year old Giovanni Battista Pirelli and it was involved in racing since the beginning of racing itself with its first win coming in the 1907 Paris to Peking race.



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Everyone's Italian when racing in Monza

Ah Monza.... the un-Tilke track. yes there are two super tight chicanes but there are also gravel traps meaning if you make a mistake it will actually cost you. That's a welcome change from the "oh well I will just run wide" racing we see even at Spa now.

Sebastian Buemi learned that and his radio transmission back to the team sounded like a grade school kid confessing something real naughty to his teacher.

Have you noticed how in Italy, all drivers get into the spirit? Even Lewis is talking with his hands!

And speaking of hands, check out at the end of the clip the difference between "Grandpa" Schumacher and Button. Schumi has the lightest hands on the wheel than anyone I can think of but at the same time he is always super busy, always changing brake balance and other settings. Button on the other hand never changes a thing. Interesting.

Pos  Driver                Team                  Time              Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m24.010s           37
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.046s  + 0.036  21
 3.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m24.347s  + 0.337  39
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m24.366s  + 0.356  33
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m24.433s  + 0.423  31
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m24.468s  + 0.458  32
 7.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.508s  + 0.498  30
 8.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.097s  + 1.087  39
 9.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.182s  + 1.172  37
10.  Bruno Senna           Renault               1m25.325s  + 1.315  38
11.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault               1m25.450s  + 1.440  31
12.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m25.496s  + 1.486  39
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m25.683s  + 1.673  37
14.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m25.758s  + 1.748  29
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1m26.202s  + 2.192  36
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth     1m26.353s  + 2.343  40
17.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m28.347s  + 4.337   5
18.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault         1m28.559s  + 4.549  32
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault         1m28.605s  + 4.595  32
20.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth       1m28.804s  + 4.794  25
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth          1m29.162s  + 5.152  34
22.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m29.184s  + 5.174  29
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth       1m29.622s  + 5.612  34
24.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth          1m29.841s  + 5.831   7

All Timing Unofficial

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2011 Belgian GP: Blistering Speed

Let's get one thing out of the way, if the Red Bulls did not have that blistering issue they most likely might have lapped the field in Belgium. That said, I don't want to fall into the "it's just the car" trap, Vettel drove the way only a great driver perfectly in tune with a machine designed around him can. He managed the tire issue without panic and was just stunning. That outside pass on Rosberg is proof enough. Yes he caught a break with the safety car but do you really believe this would have ended any other way?



Red Bull got a 1-2 with two cars on different strategies even with Webber once again totally blowing the start. Now I don't believe Webbo is a retard who can't use a clutch so once again I have to raise the question of why exactly it's always his that will not work....

Hamilton is the opposite of Vettel, he does not seem to be capable of playing it cool and many of his accidents are the result of his inability to look past what's immediately in front of him. It is the fatal flaw in his character and something he will need to conquer if he ever plans to be World Champion again, barring a completely dominant car.



Jenson Button on the other hand seems to be conquering his own flaw, inconsistency. He drove a hell of a race again, coming from behind, using his head and staying cool. Big props to Jense once again.



Alonso was the usual pit bull, He had a lucky escape in turn one and a stellar first part of the race but the Ferrari just does not work with low track temperatures so there is not much he could do on the harder tires.

Awesome start by Rosberg who read the start melee perfectly only to come up against the limitations of the Mercedes in a couple of laps.



If there was a star of the race it would have to be Schumacher, 20 years after his F1 debut, when Jaime Alguesaury was feeding from a bottle, "grandpa" Michael shut his critics up once and for all, 24 th to 5th place, consistently faster than Nico, you got to love it, oven if you're a hater.

Senna, well, I think he did himself much harm in just one braking zone.

One last word about DRS, I'm still very conflicted. It's nice to mix it up but I want to see passes under braking, not artificial assists on the straights, do you feel the same way?

Check out the clip after the jump.

Brain Fade

I apologize, but the whole Hurricane Irene thing got in the way this week end, I'll have our usual summary later in the week.
Meanwhile, here was a key incident of the Belgian GP, discuss....

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