F1 Turkish Grand Prix

[digit]

Did anybody catch the race? I thought it was pretty damm good! Quite a battle between Massa, Hamilton and Kimi going on for the front three positions! Shame Hamiltons tactic of three stops didnt end up paying off, even with all the rapid stops he had! Really looking forward to Monacco now! It was great to see Heikki race as well, amazing he didnt suffer any injuries from the high speed crash into the tyre wall.

[Nemeliza]

Was a god race, excellent track lots of overtaking through the tight bends. Hekki made me laugh with his duels at the back.
I couldnt believe how quick Hamilton was leaving the pits, I kept expecting something to fall off with a loose bolt...
It was tight between Kimi and Hamilton at then end but have to give it to Massa, no matter what hamilton threw at him, he wasn't budging.

A Brazilian is the rightful king of turkey!

[McClane]

It's a shame Kimi's front wing was damaged at the start, things could've been even more interesting!

[TiG]

Agreed was a superb race, the commentary was so sub par again it was untrue. (Why is hekki coming in again with 10 laps to go....... erm dumb arses its because he's not had the option tyres)

The other thing is how much does the McLaren suck on the options, they rule on the hard compounds. But they are rubbish on those softs.

The other thing that was great is that it is rare even with the 1 second advantage per lap that hamilton had to have the top two teams overtaking each other.

It was a cool race tho, keeps the whole championship tight and close and thats what we want

TiG

[Vimeous]

James Allen - Your inability to grasp what your own team has been telling you all race astounds me. Frankly Brundle's silence at some points must be out of shear embarrasment.

[kidzer]

More importantly - did anyone see the GP2 Sprint Race on Sunday morning?

Bruno Senna, very lucky to not be injured in a high speed collision with a stray dog that ventured onto the track!

There was a 2nd stray dog, but thankfully nobody hit it - and it eventually ran off the circuit.

[kalniel]

The other thing is how much does the McLaren suck on the options

Bridgestone in 'tyres unsuited to McLaren car' shocker

Though it's never good when a tyre company tells you you aren't allowed a two-stopper for safety reasons. I recall a certain US GP where Bridgetone were slightly mocking about their rivals inability to provide safe tyres for the way some teams were using them...

[digit]

I'm confused as to why tyre's used by hamilton were more prone to blowing out then those used by other teams? I was under the impression they all use exactly the same hard and soft compount tyres? Therefore wouldn't it effect everyone if one driver managed to get a blowout on a compound? If its unsafe for them to have two stops then shouldn't that be the same for other teams?

[Vimeous]

I'm confused as to why tyre's used by hamilton were more prone to blowing out then those used by other teams? I was under the impression they all use exactly the same hard and soft compount tyres? Therefore wouldn't it effect everyone if one driver managed to get a blowout on a compound? If its unsafe for them to have two stops then shouldn't that be the same for other teams?

Yes the tyres are the same for each team. However the way in which a car uses its tyres is completely different car to car and even driver to driver.

In this case it would appear that to ensure McLaren didn't come close to breaking the tyres, they opted for a 3-stop strategy.

[kalniel]

Well, more than just opted, Bridgestone mandated it in Lewis' case.*

Bridgestone should have known the likely loadings and usage on their tyres - that's why testing is done on tyres by every team. It's then their job to provide tyres that are safe for everyone. It could be that McLaren introduced a change to their car since then that put additional loading on the tyres, but if that was the case they should have done so in consultation with Bridgestone really.

*edit: Bridgestone are denying this now.

[digit]

Yes the tyres are the same for each team. However the way in which a car uses its tyres is completely different car to car and even driver to driver.

In this case it would appear that to ensure McLaren didn't come close to breaking the tyres, they opted for a 3-stop strategy.

Thanks for the explanation I should have really thought of that myself to be honest! Interesting how Bridgestone are now going against what Lewis said, perhaps he wasnt meant to mention he was told to go for a 3 stop race.

[TiG]

I actually think that if they hadn't have gone for that strategy Lewis could have been in even more problems with Raikkonen in the final strategy. A two stopper would have ment a lot more laps on the option tyres.

No way he could maintain the pace he was doing on the hards with higher fuel levels either.

But this is the kind of intreague that a good race brings

TiG

[MD]

bring back competition in the tyres area again please - this one manufacturer lark ain't working..

[TiG]

Can i get you to elaborate on why its not working MD?, intreagued why not in your eyes?

TiG

[MD]

because it used to mean there was a difference between the teams not soley based on the cars and the track - the tyres added another dimension to the racing - some were better on some tracks and it was a case of teams got a better suited tyre for their car that offered up an bit of varience.

now you have all teams using the same tyre brand and getting similar performance - as a result of the tyre restrictions teams are pushing the boundaries of the tyre to get more and more from it when it may not be suitable - varience in the choice gives a better spectacle imo

[kalniel]

I'm not sure I agree. Having 50% of teams be faster at 50% of the tracks and other other 50% faster at the other tacks doesn't increase the spectacle in the slightest. It just puts a different name on top of the sheet throughout the weekend.

Pushing the boundaries on a standardised tyre is more likely to increase the spectacle IMO, though my favourite would be get rid of having to use different types of tyre in the same race and ban refueling.

Then teams can decide whether to go for softer rubber but pay for time changing, or go for harder rubber and have to last it out. Would promote much more over-taking on track IMO.