2008 European Grand Prix

[Alex.]

we like our free practices

 

[PeterJB]

It's the time for tailenders to shine!

 

[Metar]

My first thought was that most people are used to that gap when you go over stuff like huge bridges or whatever. But I'm not really sure if that can be an issue. Not as much of an issue as, say... this one American street course Trans-Am raced on in 1998 or 1999 that had speed bumps. Don't even get me started with that San Jose street course Champ Car raced as they pounded over the train tracks.

Bridgestone asked Charlie Whiting to look at the small gaps between the bridge and the road - apparently they fear punctures.

What I like about the track is that there is sufficient runoff if you overshoot the corners. I haven't seen a car French kiss a tire wall head-on or anything like that.

Head-on off the track barely happens in F1 - what happens mostly is when they overshoot a corner and go off at an angle, and that already happened yesterday (Coulthard's visit to the wall).

Woah, lol, you lot had me worried Id missed qualifying there! Forgot about Saturday practice.

Same here - I had to double-check, they sounded as if Button got pole and Vettel the win.

 

[Alex.]

If Rosberg's spin yesterday according to Williams was a loss of front downforce, why did the back end come round as he went around the corner? Surely it's a loss of rear downforce otherwise he'd have under steered into the local concrete wall.

I'm not saying I'm correcting Williams engineers, but to me it doesn't make sense.

 

[Bram Turismo]

If Rosberg's spin yesterday according to Williams was a loss of front downforce, why did the back end come round as he went around the corner? Surely it's a loss of rear downforce otherwise he'd have under steered into the local concrete wall.

I'm not saying I'm correcting Williams engineers, but to me it doesn't make sense.

I'm with you, it would make much more sense if the rear lost downforce. The car would rather go in a straight line out of the corner if it was the front that lost downforce...

 

[Alex.]

Cheers Bram. I've checked the weather forecast for Valencia after seeing the clouds on the TV. Rain could be in store..

edit:

Christian Horner in his interview has mentioned 'Fluctuations' about 17 times so far.

 

[Blake]

Go STR…

 

[G.T]

Vettel then Trulli got 1st place on Q1.

 

[Alex.]

Can I get excited yet Bram?

 

[Blake]

Epic.

 

[Metar]

What the whack? Alonso goes 2nd-fastest, then Vettel fastest, then Trulli?

We're in for a wild ride, it seems - though we won't get much overtaking, it seems.

 

[Blake]

This is insanity.

Metar, get on MSN.

 

[Alex.]

Hate to say I told you so

 

[Blake]

Vettel fastest in Q2… this is über.

 

[Alex.]

I think he can get top 5 in Q3, let's see. 👍

C'mon the sebvet!

 

[nissan tuner]

Oh how i love the American announcers. i think i heard a joey line in Q2

 

[orimarc]

W...T...F?

1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari
2 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
3 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
5 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
6 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari
7 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota
8 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
9 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota
10 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari
11 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota
12 5 Fernando Alonso Renault
13 12 Timo Glock Toyota
14 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
15 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault
16 16 Jenson Button Honda
17 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault
18 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari
19 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda
20 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari

 

[Alex.]

Slightly dissappointed Vettel didn't get 5th, however he's on the clean side of the grid which should prove useful at the start of the race.

He is also likely to hold the lap record

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Orimarc, you missed Kimi in 4th...

 

[Rainmaster]

Hamilton is pushing too hard. He did a lot of mistakes and he went out of track most of times. pushing hard his tyres aswell. I think he wont be able to finish the race.

 

[Alex.]

Well I certainly hope you are correct

 

[Muzaffar]

It was a great session. I think Vettel and Trulli really surprised everyone with their qualifying pace, but I think they were running a little heavy in Q3 compared to the McLaren and Ferrari. It was also interesting to see how much the track changed throughout the session, and there was even a little drizzle during one of the session.....

Well lets hope it does rain tomorrow, and pray that Vettel will pull off his magic like he usually does in the wet races..... 👍

 

[Bram Turismo]

Looks like your Vettel enthusiasm was justified Alex

 

[Alex.]

thanks Bram, He's on the clean side of the grid so lets hope he can jump Heikki at the start as he has the racing line and the inside 👍

 

[Bram Turismo]

thanks Bram, He's on the clean side of the grid so lets hope he can jump Heikki at the start as he has the racing line and the inside 👍

Let's hope he has a good strategy, because frankly, I don't think he will be able to hold off those in front of him. However, it might get exiting between Vettel and Trulli. Trulli should have the faster car, but fuel both carry are still a mystery...

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Hamilton is pushing too hard. He did a lot of mistakes and he went out of track most of times. pushing hard his tyres aswell. I think he wont be able to finish the race.

Isn't that the way he usually drives?

 

[Alex.]

Let's hope he has a good strategy, because frankly, I don't think he will be able to hold off those in front of him. However, it might get exiting between Vettel and Trulli. Trulli should have the faster car, but fuel both carry are still a mystery...

I think Vettel opted for light fuel option and it didnt pay off. he was heading for pole on the final laps but he lost .8 of a second. Damn that would'a been a story...

 

[Rainmaster]

Isn't that the way he usually drives?

yeah his driving style is very agressive but I think this track is not suitable for agressive driving.

 

[Tobias123]

yeah his driving style is very agressive but I think this track is not suitable for agressive driving.

Yeah, did you see what happened with his tyre last race? And how his tires are after almost every other race? He pushes really hard, sometimes it pays off, other times it doesn't. I'm more of a fan of the smooth and controlled drivers, like Prost, Raikkonen, and Heidfeld.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

yeah his driving style is very agressive but I think this track is not suitable for agressive driving.

Well, at second place he got the inside of the corner, so you never know....