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| 2008 Fastest Race Laps; Interesting... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 19 2008, 11:17 AM (942 Views) | |
| RJHSaints | Aug 20 2008, 02:08 PM Post #31 |
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Well, four came in the first half of the race and three in the second half. In any case, it still doesn't really counter my main point - were Heidfeld and Kovalainen in a class of their own when they set the fastest race laps on the circuits they did? |
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| Rams | Aug 20 2008, 02:51 PM Post #32 |
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In terms of pace in clear air - yes. Setting the fastest lap doesn't happen by accident. I wonder if Massa went on to win the championship without setting a fastest lap, would he be the first to do so? |
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| RJHSaints | Aug 20 2008, 03:46 PM Post #33 |
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Well he might well be, but that wouldn't diminish the achievement, if he did. Winning a championship is about being fast over 1,000+ laps, not just a select few. Course, having been screwed at Hungary by an incident that had little to do with him, he will now have to be considered the underdog of the three main contenders, so it may well not happen anyway. Incidentally, Lewis is on for a 'fastest lapless' WDC too. Also, setting the fastest race lap can very much happen by 'accident' (i.e. not a reflection of true pace); drivers further up the field will be trying to conserve their tyres and engine, while Kimi and Heikki have, in many races, had relatively little to lose, hence they could turn the wick up and abuse their tyres for one uber-lap. To make a direct comparison - Kovalainen has two more fastest laps than Hamilton. Does that make him the quicker McLaren driver? |
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| Bear | Aug 20 2008, 03:55 PM Post #34 |
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Nah. Alonso was only beaten by the FIA and Macca last year. |
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| Red Andy | Aug 20 2008, 04:20 PM Post #35 |
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And himself, of course - after the Brazilian GP last year, he acknowledged that the only thing he could blame for losing the title was his mistake in Fuji. |
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| Rob | Aug 20 2008, 04:40 PM Post #36 |
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And Hungary, if he had just pulled right out of the pits Alonso would have been the 07 WDC (probably). |
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| AndyW76 | Aug 20 2008, 05:13 PM Post #37 |
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Team Boss
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Let's drop the conspiracy theories please. It makes you look paranoid. |
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| Rob | Aug 20 2008, 06:01 PM Post #38 |
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Not nearly as much as the tin foil hat does though...
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| Rams | Aug 20 2008, 07:58 PM Post #39 |
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But if you look at which McLaren driver has set the faster race lap, it's 7-4 to Hamilton which I'd say actually reflects their race pace. In the Ferrari case, Kimi totally dominates that statistic. I agree it's not just about who sets the fastest lap, with the current regulations it's more about who makes the least mistakes and Kimi is making a lot of them at the minute. But in clear air, on race day, he is still the faster race driver overall. |
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| Red Andy | Aug 20 2008, 09:04 PM Post #40 |
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But what does that matter if you can't ever find clear air on race day, because you screwed up in qualifying and ended up starting behind a bunch of cars that should be slower than yours? Getting a good result in F1 is about getting it right for the entire weekend. Setting fastest lap earns you nothing more than bragging rights, and rightly so. |
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| Rams | Aug 20 2008, 09:24 PM Post #41 |
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The point is that speed is not holding Kimi back, only his mistakes. If he can recapture his form from the last 5 years he should be able to win the title. |
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| Red Andy | Aug 21 2008, 09:51 AM Post #42 |
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His form from the last five years having been inconsistent, just like this one. Kimi has always been fast but made too many mistakes, which is why despite being a world-class driver he didn't win a title until last year. |
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| Rams | Aug 21 2008, 10:35 AM Post #43 |
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Kimi's form was superb between 2003-2006, he actually made very few mistakes in those seasons. Only last season could you say he was inconsistent, but in the end he got better and won the title. I think the same will happen this season. |
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| Alien_SAP_Fiend | Aug 21 2008, 10:42 AM Post #44 |
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What this proves is that Kimi struggles to get his tyres working in qualifying, compared to Lewis and Massa. Once he's in the groove, so to speak, he's faster than anybody else. Unfortunately, today's cars are so reliant on aero that it's almost impossible to get past a slower car, as we saw last race, when Alonso held him up until the second pit stop. This is why he has to rely on qualifying heavy and banging in fast laps while his lighter opponents are pitting (and emerging in traffic). This tactic does not always work, especially in wet races and has been taken by his detractors as a loss of form or lack of will or whatever, but the fact that he does get so many fastest laps, usually around the time that others are pitting, does indicate that he is trying to win races, it's just that he's accepted the fact that his strength lies in race pace, not qualifying and he's trying to win races that way. What is wrong with that? Are the only 'good' drivers the ones who get pole? Don't forget that Chris Dyer was Schumi's race engineer and would most probably be advising Kimi to employ this tactic. Has he lost form, too? |
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| pedal power | Aug 21 2008, 10:53 AM Post #45 |
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For all the talk of Kimi losing it this season, off his pace, doesn’t seem committed blah blah blah just remember one thing, for all these short comings he is still second in the championship and behind Lewis by 5 points. Taking into account the above, it’s says more about his rivals than him. |
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