It irks me that the rulebook allows tire changes, or even any work on the cars at all. If they restarted on their old tires chances are we'd be looking at Alonso or Button on the top spot of the podium.

If the race is red flagged all the teams should be allowed to do is hook up the necessary cooling fans to keep the cars from overheating. When the race goes back to a safety car condition then you can pit to change tires or repair damage...

As for Hamilton... Definitely. He is great fun to watch, thats for sure.

ATX June 17th!!!!!!

Formula 1? - The Official F1? Website

Wow. One year to build the track. They will be cutting it close.

wooooooooow! formula 1 finally in Bahrain... 28 29 30 October!

Awesome! Can't wait for the USGP!

I'm on my phone so I am not caught up with all the F1 news, but I guess they fit Bahrain into the calendar this year? That is great if so.

Woo! Finally caught up with the races I missed and I can read the thread again. :)

They moved the Indian GP to put Bahrain in it's position... but I bet you $10 that Bahrain will be pulled this year. WMSC voted to put it back on the calendar but the teams do not want to go because of the political situation. I would have been PISSED if I had Indian GP tickets and they moved the race.

Also: SEE YOU ALL NEXT JUNE 17! We should have a US GP party. :)

edit: OH HEY http://planet-f1.com/driver/18227/69...tion-applauded

it has already been reported Bahrain is off again

Bahrain Grand Prix Cancelled, Again | Motorward

oops. I should have read the link you added ...

THAT was a finish!
 

....just switched over from Pocono, to see what was a GREAT F1 finish -- Vettle seemed to get just a little into the wet stuff, and Walla, a McLaren #1! Wow, what a fantastic finish!

That was an awesome finish!

Even with all the problems -- extended rain delay, extended safety car laps, it ended up a great race. And, I agree. The end was exciting.

Vettel normally displays driving masterclass in wet conditions (see Monza 2008), so I was surprised he didn't pull this one out. That goes to show you what one lapse in concentration does in F1. I have to say, I saw a mistake coming, with the way Button was applying intense pressure to Seb to keep a cool drive on the last lap. But credit to Button for drawing the mistake and taking advantage. Seb is still killing it in drivers standings, and as long as he stays consistent, he should be taking another driver's crown come Brazil this year.


On a side note, which of the McLaren drivers was in the wrong earlier in the race?

Re: Vettel -- his tires were shot anyways. Whether he lost it there or not Button was still going to fly by him down the straight with the DRS. I don't know about you guys, but I feel like the DRS gives the chasing driver too much of an advantage... it virtually guarantees a successful pass.

Re: McLaren drivers -- I think it was a racing incident. You could say Button shouldn't have come down and you could say that Hamilton should have backed off, but at the end of the day it was hard racing and you know that both Lewis and Jensen have no ill-will towards one another.

I totally agree with you on the DRS. Overtaking should be entirely up to the prowess of the driver, not the car aiding him:




And regarding McLaren, I think Jensen was positioning his car for the correct line in that corner, but he had to know his teammate was behind him. Lewis probably should have let off to let Jensen get his line, but I think he was under the impression his team mate would have given enough space between the cars. Who knows, but you can imagine the Paddy Lowe was facepalming when this was all going down.

I think it was Button's fault - I don't think he needed to move to the outside that far from the corner, and I thought the next real corner was to the left?

I don't think DRS is too much of an advantage - if you are faster than the car behind you, you should be able to pull too much of a gap for DRS to be effective. Otherwise, you can just pass him again next time around using your DRS. It only works for the driver behind if he can pull out more than a second a lap after passing - in which case, he shouldn't have to be held up - that's what got F1 it's train/no pass reputation.