What is up with Rubens? (Possible spoiler)

Yup I agree.

Button drives circles around him.

 

Anyone catch the comment on Speed Channel that BAR has Rubins trying to shift to left foot braking again?

He tried that briefly with Ferrari and it didn't work for him, so he went back to what he was used to.

I know I'd be pretty freakin' slow if I tried to shift to left foot braking at my age.

Sure, it saves the engineers having to rig two pedal setups for the different drivers. It wasn't much of an issue at Ferrari: the T-car would be set for Michael, period. If Rubins needed it in a hurry, that was just too bad.

But with them saying that Rubins has been having "brake issues", it may be that they're trying to get him to change his driving style. It may be quicker in the long run, but I'd think the time to transition would be winter testing, not during a GP.

 

are u guys sure this is just about the left braking issue? in this past 2 races, button just crushed him, something i thought will happen the other way around. i guess he;s just having a horrible time, lets just see how things build up in the euro races. if his form continues like this, he'll be just cursing why he left the scuderia...

 

He usually has slow starts with new teams, nothing to worry about just yet...

 

Jense is still team lead.

 

Kinda makes you wonder........ what Jensen would do in Ferrari #2......

 

He was dismal last year.

 

Rubens is their number 1 driver (number 11 car). He has the red camera on top of the airbox. Jenson has the black one (2nd driver) with the number 12 car and Davidson has the yellow one (test driver, 3rd driver). Jenson said he didn't care getting placed as the number 2 driver.

Fun fact: There is no number 13 car

Also, I don't think RB is a bad driver. I place the larger gap between him and Jenson because of the braking style change. Assuming their cars are similar in race setup, Jenson blows out RB, but MS never made RB look that bad. Does this mean JB is better than MS in the same car or did MS take it easy and make RB look better?

 

My god... It's only his second race in a new team that is completely wrapped around Button with a team and car that are diametrically opposed to what he's had for many years. People should give the guy a break.

 

At this level, breaks don't happen and drivers who need "time to learn" rarely stay in the car, and nor should they IMO. He's had a whole winter of testing with many many miles, and I doubt he's going to get better with additional seat time. Which means he is either not as good as his teammate, or he has inferior equipment. Since the teams always want to win, I don't think they would withold better equipment from a driver, which leads me to think he's just not as good as Button. Not that I think Button is the cat's meow, but he's superior as a driver to RB.

 

rubens comes from a karting background where everyone brakes with the left foot. i think part of the problem is setting the car up for a left foot braker. once they get the brake values right he will be faster. they mentioned today about ms and massa using brake and gas together. this is easier with left foot braking. no need for heel and toe.

 

Jense is their lead.

 

DOH! I'm an idiot. I was looking at last year's car.

Rubens has lead.

 

Yep

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_gallery_image_display.php?fes_gal_id=587&fes_image_number=27&fes_reverse_order=

 

He is the subject of many jokes down in Brazil.

 

Wut jokes?

 

What are you talking about ? AFAIK, Rubens *didn't* (or couldn't) left foot brake, at least at the time when he was in Ferrari, this was a major difference between him and MS (who is very good at LFB).

There was even a post here about detailed telemetry showing how this resulted in MS being faster on the throttle than Rubens out of a corner, etc.

Most F1 drivers, do in fact, LFB. It just makes more sense since there's no clutch pedal.

 

I saw a short interview with Rubens at the weekend. He was explaining that his problem was adjusting to a car set-up for Jenson when he was used to driving a car set up for Michael. Jenson is much smoother on the throttle and brakes whereas Michael tends to stamp on them. Rubens said he was used to a throttle pedal that was like an on/off switch.

Rubens was very disappointing this weekend. He changed to the T-car that Anthony Davidson had done wonders with, but still failed to perform. I am sure that the team will be doing all they can to change things to suit him. There is no point in just leaving him to get on with it. They have invested a lot of money in him so they need to help him get results. I also assume the teams lawyers have been asked to re-examine the contracts to see how much it would cost to put Anthony in the race car. Maybe Rubens should be careful as there may be roller-skates left on the top of stairs!

 

The team doesn't have a #1 or #2 driver. They explained on Speed why Rubens got #11 (it was his lucky number in his racing past); it is not about him being supremo.

Ferrari didn't renew Ruben's contract because he contributed little last year. And so far he doesn't look any better this year. Time's up to retire.

 

I think you're remembering this backwards: Michael grew up in a karting family. Rubins came from an environment where beginner race cars had clutch pedals.

Yes, in theory, left foot braking is quicker.

But you don't have to use left foot braking to feather the gas during braking.
Although I imagine it might be a bit tricky to heel-and-toe at five gees of deceleration.

(Think about it: F1 cars brake at 66% higher acceleration than astronauts experience in a Shuttle launch -- higher than Apollo astronauts had to take.
But go ahead and criticize: driving an F1 car is easy. Heck, you're sitting down the whole time. )

 

i thought it was him who didn't wanna renew his F contract? btws, funny, i was thinking that if rubens fail to perform in europe, as the season progress, maybe it's time to call it a day. plus, he just had a new son, and that could play a small part in his pace...