How do you know that? Speed leaves a big portion of the race out to commercials and in addition the camera was often on other drivers. We saw one patented MS cut to block Nico. But there might have been several more. Or not. I simply can't say.
Ha! I'm starting to get the hang of this quantum mechanics theory: If you end up 2nd, you are actually the faster driver. q.e.d. The FIA needs to reverse its points structure.
I watched live timing the entire time of the race as well. When Nico attempted that pass he was within .5 of Michael, and never again throughout the race was Nico so close. Nico would get within a second and then Michael would open the gap again. This went on for some 30 laps. Michael's problem is not his speed, it's his ability to put 100% of his best into 1 lap. If he could do that consistently we would see Michael be .2-.3 quicker than Nico every time. Nico puts 100% in every time, but his 100% in his own sector times are not Michael's 100%. Michael's sectors are always .05-.1 faster but he rarely puts the whole pie together in one single lap lately. He needs to do this! He can still be great, but his consistency and luck with his car (broken! arghh!) are really bonkers.
How often are the deltas updated on live timing? On TV they were updated about once a lap, which is not frequent enough to draw any conclusions about what went down within a lap.
Live timing is almost constant. And even at the bottom of the TV screen it was showing the gaps between the driver in front of them. The one and only place Nico had a chance to pass was in the DRS zone, and Michael left himself open once and then never again. In 30+ laps if Nico could have passed him, he would have. If he were truly quicker, he could have. Plenty of people passed others today who were only marginally quicker.
Im watching the race as I speak. What!!!!!! 6th position (Schumi) just got lapped! At least in Moto GP the leader doesn't lap the 6th position guy. Strategy, tire degredation, etc..... to me boring. Sorry... back to MS bashing. Not me though, I'm a fan. Oh and just heard one commentator say Salo was gonna try Nascar truck series and I sorta heard him say Schumi will too later?? My kids were talking.
that is what i thought. I did however clearly remember hearing that he was here before at a track waiting his turn to test drive a nascar cars at one of those fan track days. They said he was super nice and did not use his fame to get bumped up the line to have a go. For the haters.....i'm pretty sure they would love to see him in that series. Oh and I too watched my first nascar truck series race friday on the drivedown to disney world.
More data. Nico's DRS was working most of the time and he used it most of the time he was able, just Nico didn't know exactly when he could use it as the light on his steering wheel was not working. Average laptimes ..... MS .......................Nico First stint .......... ..... 1:32.961...............1:33.037 Second stint .......... .. 1:32.640...............1:32.745 Third Stint ............... 1:31.749...............1:31.495 Fourth stint .......... .. 1:31.872...............1:31.886
pretty close isn't it? i still wonder if MS was holding Nico up, but it was MS who got past Nico in the first place...that's racing!
Nico wasn't fast enough to make a pass...End of story. If anyone was following live timing, you could see how Schumacher managed the whole race. If the gap with Nico was comfortable(say 3-5 secs), Michael looked after his tyres, conserved fuel and did not worry about lap times. Once Nico got within 1 second, he upped his pace and it was only towards the last that Nico had consistently better laptimes than Michael. The first sector was even(or Michael was faster more often than not), in the second Michael was usually quicker, but Nico beat Michael hands down in the third sector clawing back whatever he lost in the first two, resulting in pretty close laptimes. There was a sense of deja vu, from watching Michael hunt Rosberg last year, but couldn't pass. Which race was that? Brilliant drive from Vettel and Button, IMO. Quick Nick too.
I wouldn't say there was any Deja Vu from Suzuka last year as Michael was utterly dominant in that race, but very clearly held up by Nico. This race, Nico could really push and make up time only to confront Michael who was managing his tires, and then Michael made up time in the interest of keeping Nico at bay. End of story.
Interesting what Nico says in this article. He says Michael's car was handling really badly compared to his. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91644
2 things: 1. Surely the team ensured his DRS did not work , and 2. Surely what he was seeing was the different driving styles with the way MS likes to muscles car. Rosberg on the other hand is Mr Smooth. Pete
Correction: That's what SET (as in PAST TENSE) Michael apart . That's what some of you just don't get. His time has passed. Nobody is taking away any of his 7 titles, even when Ferrari's unique advantages on the last 5 were more a factor than his driving abilities in the eyes of many (including mine . But IT'S OVER!!! Fast forward to the present, and he's just a midpack driver, and will be forced to retire that way. Time will prove it right. And yes, Vettel, Hamilton, and everybody's time will pass too, but hopefully they'll realize that before making a fool out of themselves too < ha ha>. You know what I meant. A driver in front blocking another trying to pass him is SLOWER; doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. But yes, whoever crosses the line first is the winner, even if slower, although the majority of times the faster driver OVERALL wins (a driver with worn tires is going to be slower... but only temporarily). My point is 2nd place (or any following driver) CAN be faster sometimes and not being able to pass, which is often the case in F1. However, when P2 driver is never in a position to pass, like Hamilton vs Vettel today, even when faster in certain sectors, 2nd is NOT faster. Again, as long as nothing is done illegal, whoever crosses the line first wins, faster or not . The above made me remember the 2006 Indy500, where rookie Andretti failed to block his faster opponent, who ended up winning by a hair. In that case, 'justice prevailed', and the faster driver won . And yes, nobody remembers 2nd place after a few days < he he>. Take care.
