2012 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX: RACE *** SPOILERS ***

I suspect so!..... Amazing how quickly time flies by, huh!?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Ok, I had heard Michael was told to run tail-gunner for Nico the first stint of the race, but Michael would be given first priority for tires. They were told they could 'race' one another after a big enough gap had been built. It was also confirmed that Nico's setup was more downforce intensive and Nico is indeed harder on tires than Michael who set up his car for tire management. It's beyond sad this happened as it would have been a great battle between the two for the win, not to mention the team would have learned a good deal about their tires from the two setups.

 

Did anybody else notice that the stands were almost empty, and indeed some were simply covered?

 

It's been that way for a few years now - They cut the capacity from ~200,000 (!) seats down to a more realistic ~60,000 after year one IIRC.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Where'd ya hear that?

 

Whoops, yes, that's the one, thank you. My memory obviously ain't what I'd like it to be, I need to do more fact checking before I post a quick comment!

 

Main Grandstand, and turn 1 stands were full.(only ones I could see from my vantage point)....Heard there were 120,000 people here this weekend. Qualy was empty, but it still took 2 hours for most to get on the Metro. The entrance to the circuit is a massive bottleneck, I can not imagine how they ever tried to get 200,000 into it.

 

First, no way RB could have beaten Schumi on a consistent basis if all were even, but he is the only teammate who EVER gave MS a real run for his money when he was "on"...and we all know things were not "even" at Ferrari.

Question for you - are all things even at Mercedes? If they are, he has been beaten by his teammate over and over again, so if they were even at Ferrari it is my argument it would have been closer. Again, no way he ever beats MS, but it would have looked a little better than it did. I agree he had a career most would die for.

M Shumacher had a run of something like 38 straight races without a SINGLE mechanical failure from car OR crew...now you could argue that it was because of his tremendous skill, but the fact is that the extreme mechanical conditions in F1 and the mechanics that screw wheels and put gas in cars make mistakes, so that was pretty lucky - it just was.

THAT is why I find it funny now. It isn't that I wish him ill will, because I don't wish anyone harm, but it is just good to see how things balance out over time and now HE is the teammate that has the wheel not screwed on right, and his TEAMMATE wins the race... It just makes me smile that's all.

Would you call Kimi lucky? Remember the stint he had at McLaren? It was a bloody disaster. The same thing happen to RB at Ferrari. He had a great run, and I enjoyed it a hell of a lot, but he had SO many mechanical failures and pit screwups when none of it happen to MS. Now it's happening. Just the balance of nature taking its course, so I notice things like that.

On another note, I am really impressed with Sauber this year. I think they are doing a great job. Look forward to thier continued success.

In Indy, RB had a run from 22nd to 8th at Long Beach and is now 9th in the standings when he hasn't seen these tracks ever = I am very happy watching him here and think he is doing a solid job all things considered. After 19 years of driving F1 cars it has to feel very wierd driving these machines.

MB


QUOTE=TifosiUSA;141371345]For what it's worth, I have been cheering for Rubens this season in IndyCar, and he was FAR from one of my favorites in F1.

Out of curiousity, when you imply that Barrichello got "the shaft" at Ferrari, are you implying that he could have beaten Schumacher on equal footing? I would say Rubens got anything but shafted. After witnessing Irvine's role within the team for years, RB knew what he was getting into when he signed up with Ferrari. MS was clearly going to be the number 1. Rubens got to drive the best car on the grid for years, resulting in a trophy room packed full of podium trophies and several wins. Barrichello was able to have his shot at the WDC in 2009 and couldn't get it done. If he couldn't beat Button, there's no way he could have touched Schumacher, team orders or not. Let's just say the level of empathy I have for Rubens is, similar to his countryman Massa, very low. He had a career 99.9% of the drivers on earth would kill for.

Also, I'm not sure what makes you think MS was exceedingly lucky throughout the course of his career. He went to Ferrari and "made his own luck" by piecing together an amazing time around him, working extremely hard and being extremely good.

I can think of numerous instances where he was very unlucky (the failure at Silverstone that resulted in a broken leg, tire blowout at Suzuka in 98 that took away any hope of the title, suspension failure while leading at Monaco 2000, engine failure at Suzuka 2006 while leading that cost him the championship, etc etc.) With a career that long, sometimes you catch some breaks, sometimes you don't. This year has been brutal though, MS must have gone to the McLaren-era Kimi Raikkonen School of Getting Lucky (est. 2002) in the offseason.

I thought it was a fun race, other than the obvious disappointment about MS. Congrats to Nico and I was very happy for the whole MB team. Now if Ferrari can get their act together this season has the potential for a titanic WDC battle.

Roll on Bahrain...[/quote][/QUOTE]

 

Ok, was just wondering if you thought he could have or not. I agree, some days RB would get the better of Michael but they were very rare.

You can't compare this version of MS to the one that raced at Ferrari. Though he is still very skilled it is clear he is not the same driver as he was when he raced with Rubens. And yes, I do believe things are even at Mercedes. Rosberg got the better of MS this last race, but Michael out-drove Nico in the other two races this year.

I'd like to know the actual number. Anyway, the Ferraris of that era were pretty damn bulletproof. Both cars. There were years without a single Ferrari engine failure, not just Michael's car, but both. Also, MS rarely ever crashed...his consistency was unbelievable.

Haha, no absolutely not. He finally got lucky when he won the WDC in 2007. My comment was tongue-in-cheek considering MS's retirements this year. Also, you can't even come close to comparing RB's luck at Ferrari with Kimi's at McLaren. Kimi's was much much worse.

 

Concur with all.
MB

 

Wheel man finally received that hug from MS......
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The only way to draw a meaningful comparison between venues is to look at population density and relative levels of disposable income. China has a huge population but a smaller percentage of people who can afford an F1 ticket. If, in fact, they sold as many tickets as it appears the turnout may well have been quite strong even if all the grandstands weren't full.
Of course we don't know how many seats were awarded to deserving workers or compted to politicos and other VIPs.

 

I wouldn't have an accurate answer, but I would guess 1/3rd the people were there on Sat as opposed to Sunday. One entrance, one Exit, and the Metro was really the only way to get there. You couldn't get me to go out to that place 3 days in row if you paid me. I hope Austin does a better job. Montreal and Singapore do a great job on crowd control IMHO.

23 million people in Shangahi, If you drove through the Pudong area and saw the massive #'s of people that are buying $300,000 USD condos some have to be able to afford an F1 ticket. I would say 15-20% of the attendance were ex pats, 80% of the Paddock Club had to be non locals though. 250RMB or $45 USD got you a GA ticket Day of though.

 

Thanks.

 

+1 on this, General Motors had to have had 500 people in a section directly behind me in the Main Grandstand. They could have been gifted.......and the Paddock Club area was 2/3 covered up, and not being used. That was the most surprising part for me regarding attendance.

 

I think there is an element of luck or karma with each WDC.

 

Remember last year when Seb opened up a big gap in the first few laps and it was all about how he walked on water.
Nico takes off and its all about how gracious MS is to cover for him.
Right.

 

What's going on, we're agreeing too much!

 

As in any sporting event. the fact that the championships are contested over a series of events lessens its effect though.

 

I know...wtf?!?!!

Schumi still only one point ahead of Rubens in the Championship this year, and Rubens is racing in a different series