[Alvin]

Senna would have been 53 last Thursday.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424432/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...amazonvideo-20

[Alvin]

Commentator mentioned Vettel is superstitious and names each of his race cars.

"This one he has named "Hungry Heidi".

[Alvin]

Red Bull blaming pre race lap traffic lag for overheating his clutch and causing his poor Melbourne start.

IIRC the back markers did take quite a long time to take their positions on the grid...

[65WJ]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Senna would have been 53 last Thursday.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424432/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...amazonvideo-20

I was sad for a very long time. I woke up 10 min late and the race was under red flag. I remember Varsha saying Senna was fighting for his life and was air lifted to hospital.
what a bad weekend.
imo the best at getting the most for 1 lap.

patrick

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by 65WJ

I was sad for a very long time. I woke up 10 min late and the race was under red flag. I remember Varsha saying Senna was fighting for his life and was air lifted to hospital.
what a bad weekend.
imo the best at getting the most for 1 lap.

patrick

The movie takes the total view of his career, safety and medical facilities & trauma care in F1

[Alvin]

Red Bull Sez: Vettel - you got some slpaining to do!!!

Was a great race and a real nail biter...so much so that Hamilton pulled into McClaren pit stall instead of his new Merecedes Benz box. Amazing that he podiumed and was refreshing to hear him acknowledge that he was slower than his team mate...

Vettel not so much...

[Alvin]

From Safe Is Fast website Jim Hall Engineering the Race Car video

http://safeisfast.com/sections/8-rac...g-the-race-car

[MikeNoun]

What a fantastic race! The post-race cool down room and the post-race interviews were priceless. Mark Webber (2nd) wouldn't even LOOK at his teammate Vettel (1st) after the race, or on the podium. They don't talk to each other, they don't like each other, and you can cut the tension with a knife.

Webber was ticked off because while he was running first, and Vettel 2nd, Red Bull gave the team orders that they were to "tune down" their setups, meaning they would turn the proper knobs and flip the proper switches to conserve the engines, and cruise home to the finish. But Vettel wanted the win, and against team orders (according to Webber), Vettel battled Webber for the lead, and took home the win.

It's tough being Mark Webber. He can complain that Vettel isn't following team orders, but the team will always side with 3-time World Champion Vettel. And if Webber takes matters into his own hands, he'll be reprimanded by Red Bull for upsetting their #1 driver Sebastian Vettel.

Classic F1.

Reminded me of the Prost-Senna relationship when they were both on Team McLaren!

[Alvin]

Agree100% with you Mike...real no-win for Webber. Damned if he does or doesn't.

[MikeNoun]

Webber is a great driver, but he's stuck between a rock and a hard place. Nothing unusual really, as every F1 team has their primary and secondary driver, team orders must be followed, and this happens with all teams.

Heck, I don't blame Vettel. You're driving a race car, pulling 4g turns, 5g's on braking, and it doesn't stop for 2 solid hours. You never get a break to rest your hands, grab a water bottle, or break your mental concentration for even a second. One mistake, you're not just hobbling your car back to the pits with damage, you could be seriously hurt with the speeds and g forces these cars attain.

So if you're Sebastian Vettel, 3-time world champion, the killer instinct of a great driver like Schumacher, and one of the most famous names in all of motorsport, it would be very unlikely that if you had the power to pass the 2nd place car and win the race, that you would sit still and twiddle your thumbs, allowing the #2 driver to win.

[Alvin]

Massa given team orders to allow Alonso to pass by Ferrari race control comes to mind...and IIRC Race Control levied a fine to Ferrari, or threatened to...

Problem with Vettel type "instinct" ignoring engineering to save equipment, lap speeds, etc. rears its "ugly head" in such accidents such as in 2010 Istanbul Turkey race where Vettel crashed out not only himself but also his teammate Webber.
The classic hand signal by Vettel that Webber was crazy immediately after the crash was classic Vettel "my way or the highway" denial of responsibility for his own actions. Vettel often shifts blame for his own miss steps.

Vettel "ends justify his means" works until he causes someone else's serious injury or death...or the team mgmt and engineering have had enough with his dismissal of direction...

Turkish crash and defensive mode following most recent "pulled a Vettel" links

http://www.aaformula1.com/2011/05/ve...yistanbul.html

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84052

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/...irelli-dilemma

[MikeNoun]

Well, Vettel did admit he "messed up", but I'm guessing with all the adrenaline flowing, and Vettel knew he had the car (and the ability) to win, made him rethink team orders.

From what I can understand, Vettel was going to catch Webber easily, he radioed the team (or they told Vettel) to stay behind Webber for 3 laps, leave a gap, before overtaking. But Vettel was on a mission, and just driving to his limit, passing Webber far earlier than anyone thought, especially since Webber had tuned down his engine.

Interesting that they asked Christian Horner that if Vettel messed up and passed Webber on his own, why didn't the team tell Vettel to allow Webber to retake the lead?

And yes, Lewis Hamilton pulling into the wrong pits was a classic! What's funny was that the McLaren Team was staged and ready, and in fact the jackman at the front almost slid the jack under the nose of Hamilton's Mercedes before realizing it wasn't their car, and quickly jumped out of the way!

Things happen fast in F1.

[Alvin]

Sub 3 second pit stops is fast indeed!

[MYGOAT]

"And yes, Lewis Hamilton pulling into the wrong pits was a classic! What's funny was that the McLaren Team was staged and ready, and in fact the jackman at the front almost slid the jack under the nose of Hamilton's Mercedes before realizing it wasn't their car, and quickly jumped out of the way!"

What would have been funnier if the McLaren boys jacked him up and let him sit there for a while. Good way to get him fall back in the field.

[Alvin]

Don't forget to set your DVRs for 1am CST this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to view practice, qualifying, and the Shanghai, China F1 race.

REMINDER TO CHECK YOUR LOCAL NBCSPORTS CHANNEL FOR VIEWING

[65WJ]

U verse allows me to record the series on a first run basis any time and day.

I dis-agree with Mike about Weber being a great driver. He fnished 5th in Ausy land in a Minardi. Iirc there was a nice wreck that took out a few drivers up front. Wooptie do. He is better than a mid pack driver just imo not great.


patrick

[Alvin]

Just as in the past yrs - It's protest time again in Bahrain prior to the 2013 F1 race there
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9390DF20130410

[MikeNoun]

My comment about Mark Webber being a 'great driver' was really meant with respect. It takes a special person, and a great talent, to be a successful F1 driver. Webber is indeed worthy of that. For all his slug-like starts off the grid that kill his chances to win, for all the chances he takes, and for all his whining, the guy has managed 8 wins, 11 poles, 35 podiums, and ended up 3rd in points 3 times. Not too bad. I personally don't care for Webber, but he's a darn good driver.

The media is descending on F1 in Shanghai China now, anxious to get comments from Vettel and Webber about what happened at the last race, and about their feud. Vettel said again that he apologized to the team for not understanding the order to hold position, allowing Webber to win, and Vettel to take 2nd. But he is NOT apologizing for winning, going so far as to state that Webber didn't deserve the win. Vettel is out there to win the race, and he was much faster than Webber, so he passed him.

Sebastian Vettel may be one of the greatest, and he's my favorite driver. With every great champion, there's controversy at some point in their career.

In a similar situation, we must ask ourselves,

"What would Fangio do?"
"What would Schumacher do?"
"What would Senna do?"

I think Vettel did the right thing by passing Webber.

[428RA4]

Singapore night race is always a HUGE blast~! The entire town is in party mode.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by 428RA4

Singapore night race is always a HUGE blast~! The entire town is in party mode.

IIRC even at night, the humidity is always near 100% with contrails visible on the rear winglets and wickerbills...sweat-fest for drivers, fans and all others present. Still an exciting and challenging race to see IMO.

Original 2009 race Brit "User Guide to the Singapore Grand Prix"
http://www.britsonpole.com/user-guid...prix-post15186

Singapore F1 2013 website http://www.singaporegp.sg/