2011 GP of Japan -Race - *Spoilers*

button is getting better and better beating hamilton flat in this closing season

applause as well to alonzo taking 2nd in a race ferrari look far behind rivals

 

HUGE difference between giving someone the bird and spearing them with your car because your panties are on three sizes too tight.

 

Poor Webs is having an off year. Can't wrap his head around the tires mebbe? 194 points so far is nothing to sniff at, but he's been virtually invisible all year with respect to last year.

 

Hero to zero mate, F1 fans are fickle, put Ham in Vets car vice versa you get similar results.

 

+1 great race. Vettel got payback from Button about the start. Top race! Well done to FA and Vettel. Good race as predicted.

JB in the driver's seat compared to LH at Mclaren. I honestly never thought JB would outclass him. He does on and off the track it seems.

 

Was glad to see Button win, although I was hoping Alonso was going to close that gap in the last 5 or 6 laps. Watching the timing on my Android F1 app it looked like they were trading off faster sectors tit for tat.

Hamilton and Massa collided right in front of our seats! Wish I would have got video of it, even though it was minor it was really cool to see right there. I wanted to jump the fence and pocket the piece of the wing that broke off, but didn't feel like getting arrested, haha. Took them a while to get the safety car out for it, people were dodging it for a good 3 or 4 laps before it went yellow.

Overall a great weekend for my wife, son, and I. Beautiful weather, Vettel locked up the championship but DIDN'T win, which I was happy about, and Ferrari picked up 2nd place! Only disappointment was Kobayashi, just not quite his race today I guess. The train ride back to the hotel wasn't bad, but on the way there we were packed in like sardines, it was ridiculous. I had the most fun I've had for my birthday (10/8) in a long time, normally I don't do anything at all, this was a great present from my wife.

 

Oh and slightly off topic, it's been about 5-6 years since I've seen a 360 in the flesh (seen others here in Japan, F40, Enzo, F430, etc) and it still amazes me. Saw one as we were headed for the train, had what sounded like Tubi exhaust, low pitched rumble. It amazes me how exotic and modern that car still looks even after being on the market for ~11 years. Absolutely beautiful car, and IMO, the best bargain on the market as far as exotics go.

Sorry for the off topic, was just really excited to see one again.

 

Definitely - it was a great race.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Just finished the race on DVR... Pretty dull for a Japanese GP.

 

Very dull Japanese GP indeed. That being said, I will go and eat my humble pie for stating Mclaren's car is better at this track than RB and favored this race having not only won the race but also having the quickest lap times by a good healthy margin. Congrats to Jenson. Great drive there and well deserved.

Schumacher once again declared his dominance to his teammate in race-form. Schu was just infinitely quicker on both tire compounds even when Nico had free air to run. Same in Singapore. Great form Schu.


HUGE congrats to Vettel. Could not have happened to a nicer and more talented guy. I love that guy. Nando and Jenson are nothing short of incredibly classy fellows and I wish them the best for their careers. Great guys indeed. Nando has really turned it around compared to even last season. Maybe it's all the ping pong with the engineers?

 

Boring race. Glad I taped it so I could fast forward through it.

Looking fwd to Korea now.

 

Great race for Jensen....Lewis who?? Schumi looking solid, let's hope Merc has a more capable car in 2012. Props to FA for always being fast no matter what he's in, and not complaining.

 

Agreed with Schumi outpacing Rosberg again. Actually Schumi did a way better job coming from dead last at Belguim than Rosberg did at Suzuka. Schumi did pass Rosberg for fifth at Belgium, whereas Rosberg could barely get into the points.

 

True, but it cannot go unmentioned that passing at Suzuka is very difficult and I believe Nico made the most out of it. Nico had tons and tons of slower traffic trains slowing him up. Still, his lap times were hugely slower than Michael's when Nico and Michael were both in clear air.

 

Part of me is thinking Webber will start magically performing better now that Vettel has everything locked up.

 

ol' Fred seems to not be enjoying himself on the podium.
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Anyone notice ham wasn't in the Mclaren team pics after th race, always was before I think, team or his decision?

 

Great post, so true on all counts, congrats to Jenson and Button. Was hoping for Alonso though.

 

I loved the photo of Jenson spraying Button with champagne on the podium!

 

In retrospect it's clear that RB has, at least temporarily, lost it's lead. Seb poled by the skin of his teeth and had to make a desperation move on Button off the line to lead at turn 1.
Not that he was able to maintain it for long.
Not to take anything away from RB. No one stays on top for ever and Seb's WDC is well earned. As will RB's inevitable WCC.

Congratulations to Jensen. The only driver in the prerace show who seemed to be enjoying himself.

The less said about Lewis the better.

 

Don't completely agree. I think this track has only one real "technical" phase through the esses and the rest is mostly long straights or low speed chicanes/curves. Just a case of cars with more high speed being able to negate RBR's aero advantages.

I think Fernando showed why I think he is the best driver on the grid again. He was able to completely control Vettel in a faster car.

Button seemed focused from the start of the weekend to the finish. If McLaren has chosen to hitch their wagons to him, I can understand why. Still, I don't think they're foolish enough to let a young Hamilton go to another team, but Button is CLEARLY the calming influence on McLaren. Hamilton will benefit from a trying season like this one and focus more on his racing craft. I agree with those who say he got caught up in the "star" lifestyle and hanging out with the young, rich and famous. Time to ditch all of that crap and take his privilege as an F1 driver more seriously. He's fast, but reading one's press clippings can be deceptive (especially with a bunch of hip groupies telling you what you want to hear all the time).

I think he's probably gotten enough of a ride out of Nicole also...

 

I'm not ready to read too much into todays result. Vettel had no reason to fight for anything more than 1 point. Had he challenged Alonso and gone off, what would the pundits be saying?

I think Vettel acted like a mature double-WDC today. Let's see what next week brings before making to broad a conclusion...

 

Seb was getting frustrated and making mistakes until the team backed him off. I think he wanted to win the WDC on top of the podium...youthful exuberance and all.

 

Bingo!!! I thought I was the only one thinking that..

 

He looks like he's using his catheter.