(Sorry this is a little late, but because of the Songkran water festivities, I couldn’t make the deadline for last week’s Automania column.)
Well the first thing we learned was that the Vunderkind Vettel (Red Bull) can be beaten. Despite a heroic qualifying lap he ended up running out of fresh tyres and had to accept being passed by Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) in the final stages of the race. A good win for the UK’s white hope.
PHamilton and Webber on the podium
The other drive of the day came from Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber who was written off by everyone when he did not even manage to get into the second round of qualifying, ending up starting 18th and finished third, only a few seconds behind Vettel.
The way the different teams handle the qualifying sessions is certainly open to question in Red Bull’s pit. They did not leave themselves enough time to bring Webber in to change to fresh ‘sticky’ rubber, despite seeing that his times were not quick enough to get into Q2. In fact, this way of leaving everything to the last minutes with a one-shot do or die effort cannot give consistent results. Any problems on the track in the dying moments will inevitably mean the drivers will be unable to make up the time. “Time” for team managers to think ahead and get one ‘banker lap’ in first.
The Chump of China had to be Jenson Button (McLaren) who drove into the Red Bull pit instead of his own. Was he looking to get two fresh sets of tyres, I wonder?
We also saw that Alonso (Ferrari) and team mate Massa are having a change of fortunes, with Massa outdriving the Spanish two times world champion three out of three this year. And while talking of Ferrari, the car is definitely not in the same ball-park as Red Bull or McLaren. Heads will roll in the red factory, and the color won’t just be paint.
The other driver of the day is young di Resta in the Team Poppadum, again out-qualifying and out-driving his experienced team mate Adrian Sutil, a driver who was previously held up as a ‘coming man’. Unless he perks up, he will be a ‘going man’.
Mercedes are climbing back up again, with Rosberg actually leading the race in the middle section, before being told to conserve fuel. Schumacher had another poor qualifying, but managed to get into the points again. Write off Ross Brawn and Co. at your own risk. Podium finishes are coming for the Mercedes team (or zere vill be heads rolling in Stuttgart as well as in Maranello).
The (Lotus) Renaults did not do as well as previously, and are likely to slip back as the bigger teams move forward. They have had their podiums, I am afraid. The name “Lotus” refers to plants rather than car companies.
There are those who are criticizing the new Drag Reduction System (DRS) which allows a slipstreaming car a chance of passing the lead car. This has resulted in much more passing and repassing, but the critics say this is “artificial”. I’m sorry, it is the same for everyone, and the DRS cannot be activated if the second car is more than one second adrift. So stay ahead. The situation actually reminds me of Formula Ford tactics, where nobody wants to be the lead car entering the final lap as you will be slipstreamed and beaten every time. However, I would like to see a broad yellow line on the track to show us viewers just where the DRS can be activated. It is a bit confusing at present.
Again I have to congratulate the Beeb. Great coverage and commentary, head and shoulders above the others. The loss of Eddie Jordan was no loss. The next GP is in Turkey in a week’s time. Much work will have been done on the Red Bull’s KERS, Ferrari will have been trying to fix the whine from the driver’s seat and Button will be studying a map of the pit layout.
