F1 2016: Chinese GP - Shanghai (Apr 17)

[Mtxzptlk]

Fri 15 – Sun 17 Apr 2016 PIRELLI CHINESE GRAND PRIX





Tyre Allocation for Chinese GP



Fri 15 – Sun 17 Apr 2016

Practice 1 Fri 10:00 (Local)| Thurs 10:00 PM EST | Thurs 7:00 PM PST

Practice 2 Fri 14:00 (Local)| Fri 2:00 AM EST | Thurs 11:00 PM PST

Practice 3 Sat 12:00 (Local)| Sat 12:00 AM EST | Fri 9:00 PM PST

Qualifying Sat 15:00 (Local)| Sat 3:00 AM EST | Sat 12:00 AM PST NBCSN

Race Sun 14:00 (Local)| Sun 2:00 AM EST | Sat 11:00 PM PST NBCSN

Notes:
-N. Rosberg 5 race win streak (Final 3 races of 2015, AUS and BAH)
-Return to 2015 Qualification format
-S. Vettel gets new engine
-F. Alonso participation pending FIA approval on Thursday (4/14)

[DieGrüneHölle]

Tire allocations looks very interesting. Looks like Williams have decided to copy Haas aggressive strategy.

[Mtxzptlk]

Originally Posted by Blipit_

Tire allocations looks very interesting. Looks like Williams have decided to copy Haas aggressive strategy.

+ McHonda going for max allocation on SS tyres.

[DieGrüneHölle]

Weekend hasn't even started, but Hamilton has been given 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change. Mercedes found Hamilton's gearbox sustained damage from the impact with Bottas.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by Blipit_

Weekend hasn't even started, but Hamilton has been given 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change. Mercedes found Hamilton's gearbox sustained damage from the impact with Bottas.

Oh oh...looks like the odds of six consecutive wins for Rosberg just sky rocketed. It will be fun to watch Hamilton going at 11/10s start to finish, the team better be on their toes at pit stops or all hell will break lose Lewis can do it for sure if there are no mistakes and the car runs 100%

[five_timer]

Alonso has been given the go-ahead to race.

[E9TOU]

Hamilton has won at this track 4 times (IIRC) so it should be pretty entertaining to see him make his way to the top since he seems to do so well there.

Hoping for some surprises again with the varying tire strategies. Also glad they ditched the stupid elimination qualifying.

[DC-T]

Quali was unrealistic. Good it's gone. Rosberg is odds on but depends oN what the Ferraris bring.

[Mtxzptlk]

FP1/FP2

[Robin_NL]

So I saw the Start. F1 is boring since about a decade(or 2?) lol
I was @ Spa in 2013 and got bored as well...

Though I like guys like Kimi and Vettel(who had a nice move, passing 2 other cars @ pitlane entry today, great!) I think the whole soul is gone.

And i'm not talking about the sound the engines make. It's just so clinical.

Born in 1970 I'm from the Lauda-Keke-Piquet-Prost-Senna era and at highschool I was a big fan of Nigel Mansell. but those times will never come back...





Cheers
Robin

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by Robin_NL

So I saw the Start. F1 is boring since about a decade(or 2?) lol
I was @ Spa in 2013 and got bored as well...

Though I like guys like Kimi and Vettel(who had a nice move, passing 2 other cars @ pitlane entry today, great!) I think the whole soul is gone.

And i'm not talking about the sound the engines make. It's just so clinical.

Born in 1970 I'm from the Lauda-Keke-Piquet-Prost-Senna era and at highschool I was a big fan of Nigel Mansell. but those times will never come back.

Cheers
Robin

I'm with you 100% Robin!

[mreed]

Been watching since 2005, so I can't comment on if it has lost it's soul, but the races can be a bit boring. This race had a lot of action and passing, but of course not right at the front. Mercedes is too powerful that there wasn't much competition up front once the Ferraris collided and Ricciardo got the puncture. I enjoyed the race and am hopeful Mclaren can get in to the top 10 here soon.

[inTgr8r]

For me the race was a colossal bore with no action up front. (again)
They need to come up with something better than a wreckum race on the first lap to spice things up.

I'm afraid things will never change with the circus act that's running the F1 show.
I've held out hope for a loooooong time, but I thing I'm finally done with F1.

[NickyC]

Thanks for all the nice pictures. I think that's the first time a thread has ever taken five minutes to load!

Another pretty good race honestly, that's a good three in a row.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by Robin_NL

So I saw the Start. F1 is boring since about a decade(or 2?) lol
I was @ Spa in 2013 and got bored as well...

Though I like guys like Kimi and Vettel(who had a nice move, passing 2 other cars @ pitlane entry today, great!) I think the whole soul is gone.

And i'm not talking about the sound the engines make. It's just so clinical.

Born in 1970 I'm from the Lauda-Keke-Piquet-Prost-Senna era and at highschool I was a big fan of Nigel Mansell. but those times will never come back...



Cheers
Robin

Hate to say it, but I agree for the most part. Over the past 3 to 4 years, I have found myself gradually checking out of F1. I started watching religiously in 1999 just before BMW entered with WilliamsF1. Yesterday was the first time I can recall purposefully not watching an F1 race. I haven't watched a full race yet this year. The cars and the rules are a dumpster fire.

[five_timer]

Is there another thread where people are actually discussing the race? There must be a more appropriate place to wax nostalgic about the good old days. I'm really getting tired of the complainers.

I started watching in the late 80's, making it through the dynasties of McLaren Honda, Williams Renault, McLaren Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull etc. Yes, I'd like to see someone challenge Mercedes today, but all the teams have the same restrictions, the tides will turn at some time, just as in the past.

[rob24ert]

What an awesome race! Not much passing up front, but shows how tight the midfield is with a lot of action. We need Ferrari to have a 'perfect' weekend to see their real unhindered pace. Vettels pit lane pass was also great.

Very entertaining race though. All the way throughout there was action.

[five_timer]

Originally Posted by Robin_NL

Born in 1970 I'm from the Lauda-Keke-Piquet-Prost-Senna era and at highschool I was a big fan of Nigel Mansell. but those times will never come back...

What exactly won't come back? The total domination of Prost and Mansell in the Williams Renault? A record-setting champ like Senna? Or maybe you're referring to the collection of great drivers all competing together. Sort of like having Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, and Raikkonen competing, no?

[five_timer]

Originally Posted by rob24ert

What an awesome race! Not much passing up front, but shows how tight the midfield is with a lot of action. We need Ferrari to have a 'perfect' weekend to see their real unhindered pace. Vettels pit lane pass was also great.

Very entertaining race though. All the way throughout there was action.

I also thought it was an exciting race. I love Vettel, but frankly, he's got nothing to complain about. Let's say he had a clean race, he still would've ended up 2nd behind Rosberg, and maybe Kimi could've gotten 3rd instead of 4th. So really Ferrari came close to achieving their maximum.

[D.I.P.]

I will never understand people who continuously complain about F1 and how it is boring now and they miss the glory days of the 70's, 80's, 90's etc... yet they obviously continue to tune in week after week just to complain some more. Get over it! Yes the sport has changed, Yes i am sure all of us would like to have more a a challenge to Mercedes up front but stop acting like these races are a complete bore to watch. If you can watch a race like this past weekend's Chinese GP or even this year's Australian GP and call it "Boring" I'm not entirely sure you fully understand Motorsports at all. Just because a race isn't finishing we a battle for 1st place on the last turn of the last lap it doesn't mean the race an or the sport itself is "boring" or "awful". For the most part week after week there are great battles going on all race long from 4th place to 18th place (everything between the front runners and back markers). Plenty of great passing etc. Not everybody is a Mercedes/Ferrari/Williams/Redbull fan... I would bet most of the people complaining and saying F1 is Boring are fans of the aforementioned teams who are just annoyed their period of dominance has passed.

Rant over...

Now to the race itself. So much hype and so much anticipation for Ferrari this weekend. They were fastest all weekend except when it mattered most. Their strategists have now cost them 2 races this season in my opinion. Australia for the obvious reasons and now China! Why they felt it was a good idea to have leave Vettel with only enough time for 1 flying lap in Q3 is beyond me especially having seen Nico's lap with enough time left on the clock to run at least 2 solid laps. This poor decision led to Kimi and Vettle starting form the second row and opened them up to the incident which pretty much guaranteed Nico the race. Had they put in a proper Qualifying effort and started 1-2 or even split teh first and second rows the incident does not happen and Nico would not have been able to get away as easily or perhaps at all.

On a positive note it does seem like Ferrari's pace is for real and if they manage to get their act together one of these weekends we might get a real show up front...

Cant wait for the next race but more than that i cannot wait until Montreal in June! I'll be there again, Grandstand 24 L'Epingle hairpin beer in hand here's hoping for excellent weather all weekend

[five_timer]

I also have to mention the "chat" Vettel had with Kvyat in the post-race room. Classic.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by D.I.P.

I will never understand people who continuously complain about F1 and how it is boring now and they miss the glory days of the 70's, 80's, 90's etc... yet they obviously continue to tune in week after week just to complain some more. Get over it! Yes the sport has changed, Yes i am sure all of us would like to have more a a challenge to Mercedes up front but stop acting like these races are a complete bore to watch. If you can watch a race like this past weekend's Chinese GP or even this year's Australian GP and call it "Boring" I'm not entirely sure you fully understand Motorsports at all. Just because a race isn't finishing we a battle for 1st place on the last turn of the last lap it doesn't mean the race an or the sport itself is "boring" or "awful". For the most part week after week there are great battles going on all race long from 4th place to 18th place (everything between the front runners and back markers). Plenty of great passing etc. Not everybody is a Mercedes/Ferrari/Williams/Redbull fan... I would bet most of the people complaining and saying F1 is Boring are fans of the aforementioned teams who are just annoyed their period of dominance has passed.

Rant over... AGREED!!!

Now to the race itself. So much hype and so much anticipation for Ferrari this weekend. They were fastest all weekend except when it mattered most. Their strategists have now cost them 2 races this season in my opinion. Australia for the obvious reasons and now China! Why they felt it was a good idea to have leave Vettel with only enough time for 1 flying lap in Q3 is beyond me especially having seen Nico's lap with enough time left on the clock to run at least 2 solid laps. This poor decision led to Kimi and Vettle starting form the second row and opened them up to the incident which pretty much guaranteed Nico the race. Had they put in a proper Qualifying effort and started 1-2 or even split teh first and second rows the incident does not happen and Nico would not have been able to get away as easily or perhaps at all.

On a positive note it does seem like Ferrari's pace is for real and if they manage to get their act together one of these weekends we might get a real show up front...

Cant wait for the next race but more than that i cannot wait until Montreal in June! I'll be there again, Grandstand 24 L'Epingle hairpin beer in hand here's hoping for excellent weather all weekend

The strategic calls made by MBZ in relation to HAM and Ferrari's in general are becoming a joke.

Of course we don't have the data streaming from the car as they do but anyone with a stopwatch and a tally sheet should have know that the short stint on the soft tires which resulted in an extra pit stop would ruin his race. If one subtracts the pit delta time of approximately 23 seconds from HAM's time, he finishes in 4th place.

Ferrari's lack of ability to convert the raw speed of the car to race winning performance is similar to McLaren of 2011 and 2012.

And to all of the people reminiscing about the good 'ol days: The great thing about the good ol' days is that they are gone. I loved the racing from the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's, AND now. Each era has it's charm as well as it's problems. There is more passing now than ever before. I miss the V8 and especially the V10 screams but I love the racing and passing more than both of them.

Cheers-mk