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Quali Thread; no peeking..
Topic Started: Sep 6 2008, 12:23 PM (266 Views)
Alien_SAP_Fiend
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Bourdais P1 in Q1!!!!!!!
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Norbert
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Not in Q2 though.....

<roflmao>
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Alien_SAP_Fiend
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P7 not too bad.
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Norbert
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Hmmmm... so after everything being pretty even all weekend, Lewis gets a comfortable pole half a second quicker than Heikki who was quicker than him in the other two quali sessions... are we seeing a fuel strategy here, or were they sandbagging?
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RJHSaints
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I am pretty sure it must be fuel. Not only the advantage from Hamilton to Kovalainen, but that from McLaren to Ferrari (at least in Lewis' case) seem to confirm that idea.

Hamilton seems confident he can forge enough of a lead starting from pole, but if Massa passes him into the first corner he will be screwed.
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Norbert
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Having said that, there are two factors in McLaren's favour, notwithstanding the fact that this is allegedly a 'Ferrari' track:

This weekend's tyres are the hardest two choices, which favour McLaren.
The weather is cool, which often gives Ferrari issues with heating the front tyres.

I doubt Massa will repeat his McLaren overtaking feat from Hungary. There he was third on the grid, so on the grippy side, which accounted for Heikki. Not sure what happened with Lewis, I supposed he might have been a bit cautious. I don't expect the same mistake here. Or maybe he might worry about that an overcook the start?

Looks like the first few corners will be critical tomorrow.

<thumbsup>
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Red Andy
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A lot will depend on how much heavier Massa is than Hamilton. I wouldn't expect it to be more than a lap or two. McLaren appear to be genuinely quicker over one lap but Ferrari may have an advantage towards the middle and end of each stint, once the tyres have heated up.
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dazzerjp
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Heikki was quicker in q1 and q2 a couple of laps after hammy set his time. the track was coming to them as each lap passed.

maasa and lh are rpetty close on fuel, i think. maybe a lap differnece.

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Rob
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Lewis and Massa may well pit on the same lap, I think they are that close. McLaren had to be disappointed that Hekki couldn't ahead of Massa.

My prediction, Massa (on the softer tire) gets chopped by Lewis (on the harder tire) at the start, who then in turn chops Hekki top 4 hold station through the first stop. Lewis short fills on the first stop, to keep his lead over Massa, through the second stop when Massa comes out ahead of Lewis, but massa being on the harder tire gets passed in the lead up to Eau Rouge by Lewis who is on the softs. Lewis wins (Massa 2nd, Kimi 3rd).
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dazzerjp
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Rob,Sep 7 2008
02:15 PM
Lewis and Massa may well pit on the same lap, I think they are that close. McLaren had to be disappointed that Hekki couldn't ahead of Massa.

My prediction, Massa (on the softer tire) gets chopped by Lewis (on the harder tire) at the start, who then in turn chops Hekki top 4 hold station through the first stop. Lewis short fills on the first stop, to keep his lead over Massa, through the second stop when Massa comes out ahead of Lewis, but massa being on the harder tire gets passed in the lead up to Eau Rouge by Lewis who is on the softs. Lewis wins (Massa 2nd, Kimi 3rd).

if that actually happned, then it would be a great race.


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Red Andy
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Rob,Sep 7 2008
06:15 AM
Lewis and Massa may well pit on the same lap, I think they are that close. McLaren had to be disappointed that Hekki couldn't ahead of Massa.

My prediction, Massa (on the softer tire) gets chopped by Lewis (on the harder tire) at the start, who then in turn chops Hekki top 4 hold station through the first stop. Lewis short fills on the first stop, to keep his lead over Massa, through the second stop when Massa comes out ahead of Lewis, but massa being on the harder tire gets passed in the lead up to Eau Rouge by Lewis who is on the softs. Lewis wins (Massa 2nd, Kimi 3rd).

The top teams tend to stick to the same tyre strategy under normal circumstances (normally prime-prime-option), so I would be surprised if one driver started on the hard tyre and another on the soft. More likely is that whoever stays out longest at the second stops will win - if Massa can use the Ferrari's end-of-stint advantage while Lewis is trundling round with a heavy car, he can leapfrog the McLaren. Question is whether the pace of the Ferrari earlier in the stint is sufficient to keep close enough behind Hamilton for this to work.
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Norbert
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The biggest question really is which car is faster? The dodgy weather and the fact that up until Q3 Ferrari looked equal or faster than McLaren, plus the pretty big difference in time between the two McLarens (assuming that Heikki didn't make a mistake in the middle sector) means that I'm not entirely sure who would be quicker. I would suspect that Lewis is somewhat lighter than Heikki for sure, and a little lighter than Massa, but not very much. I guess McLaren decided that pole and a lighter car would be the best scenario for the start, we'll have to wait and see how it pans out in the race.
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GordonB
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Norbert,Sep 7 2008
08:02 AM
The biggest question really is which car is faster? The dodgy weather and the fact that up until Q3 Ferrari looked equal or faster than McLaren, plus the pretty big difference in time between the two McLarens (assuming that Heikki didn't make a mistake in the middle sector) means that I'm not entirely sure who would be quicker. I would suspect that Lewis is somewhat lighter than Heikki for sure, and a little lighter than Massa, but not very much. I guess McLaren decided that pole and a lighter car would be the best scenario for the start, we'll have to wait and see how it pans out in the race.

I'm sorry was I watching the same qualifying?

It seemed to me that McLaren were comfortably faster than Ferrari in both Q1 & Q2. If anyone is running light I think it'll be Massa.

It may have been "gamesmanship" but Lewis complained about locking a wheel in sector 1, whereas Massa seemed bemused that his "perfect lap" still left him ~0.3 seconds behind.
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Steelstallions
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If the track is wet or damp, then Ferrari may as well pack up and make their way to the next circuit BEFORE the race starts.

After seeing MS and Barrichello for years drive well on wet circuits apart from the monsoon in Brazil 2005 i think, its painful watching these pair of 'Bambi's on ice' every time it rains just a little bit.

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GordonB
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Steelstallions,Sep 7 2008
09:55 AM
... 'Bambi's on ice' ...

love the description
<roflmao> <roflmao>
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