Gran Premio de España

[cosworth151]

I was surprised to see how loosing one entire rear wing endplate didn't seem to effect the performance of Maldonado's Lotus. The rear facing on board camera showed the wing to be absolutely stable. Handling didn't seem to be effected, either. I'm sure the aero crews at Lotus (and probably several others) are giving that a hard look today.

I, too, wonder "what if" about Hamilton's extra pit stop, and also the problems with one rear wheel on that stop.

[Monty]

What a terrible race, totally boring.
The only hope was to see Hamilton attack Rosberg but his awful start and botched pit stop made sure that we didn't even get that spectacle. Hamilton was clearly quicker than Rosberg in race trim but even if he had a better start or if they hadn't messed up the pit stop he could have caught Niko but I doubt he could have overtaken him.
Although beautiful, the Barcelona track has always resulted in boring races because it is almost impossible to overtake when the cars are evenly matched. Hamilton was so much faster than Vettel but he just could not get in a position to overtake. The only overtaking occurred when a car on good tyres caught a car on knackered tyres.

The less said about McLaren the better!

[Scott]

I was surprised to see how loosing one entire rear wing endplate didn't seem to effect the performance of Maldonado's Lotus. The rear facing on board camera showed the wing to be absolutely stable. Handling didn't seem to be effected, either. I'm sure the aero crews at Lotus (and probably several others) are giving that a hard look today.

Yeah, that was quite something...I was surprised the pit guy just ripped off the bent upright.  I also wondered if the DRS would still work, but it seemed to be just fine.  I guess it is controlled by the middle upright.  Maybe they'll go back to centre post wings 

[lkjohnson1950]

I read an article in Road & Track a loong time ago about how to "read" a track. The most important turn on any track is the one leading on to the longest straight; The last turn at Barcelona. I suspect Lewis was running more down force than Seb. But Vettel was clearly quicker exiting the chicane and through the last turn. He was always able to pull a gap on Lewis so that the DRS wasn't enough to get Lewis by. Got the most important turn right.

[Monty]

To overtake on a straight you need to exit the corner before the straight quicker than the guy you want to overtake. Another good overtaking chance is in a heavy breaking point before a tight corner. Both of these strategies are more difficult if the aero is disturbed by the car in front. Generally the way to avoid this is to use a different line (approaching the corner or in the braking zone) but at Barcelona there is only one line. Therefore, at the corner before the straight the following cars were understeering and dropping away from the car they were trying to overtake and even with DRS they could only catch up with the car in front to have exactly the same thing happen to them when braking for the corner at the end of the straight.

[John S]

I think another complicating factor is strategic use of the ERS power when defending, the commentators made much of this when Bottas was holding Kimi back. Lewis needed to try and force Seb to use his electrical energy at other points in the lap. 

However at Barcelona the car in front has no need to go ultra defensive at most places round the lap as there is really only one line as has been said by Monty.

[Irisado]

Fue tan aburrido que casi me acosté delante del televisor.

That was so tedious that I still can't quite believe it.  I was expecting a procession, but when the only things that made the race at all notable were dangerous incidents in the pit lane, then it's clear that the race was very poor.

I'm not surprised that Rosberg won, once Hamilton had fluffed his start; indeed after the start, precious little happened for the entire distance.  I hope that Monaco provides more entertainment and tension.

[Monty]

Hamilton had fluffed his start

Just trying to be completely fair, Hamilton didn't fluff his start. The on-board clutch bite program failed.

[lkjohnson1950]

Hamilton had fluffed his start

Just trying to be completely fair, Hamilton didn't fluff his start. The on-board clutch bite program failed.

There is something so wrong about that. You should be responsible for your own start.

[Jericoke]

Hamilton had fluffed his start

Just trying to be completely fair, Hamilton didn't fluff his start. The on-board clutch bite program failed.

There is something so wrong about that. You should be responsible for your own start.

Win as a team, lose as a team.  We've seen that truly every member has to be spot on, from the guy attaching the wheels, calling the tire change, all the way to the guy working the steering wheel.  One bad moment by any of them, and three weeks of prep goes no where.

[lkjohnson1950]

All that should be necessary is to let out the clutch.

[John S]

All that should be necessary is to let out the clutch.

Yes but which one Lonny?   

[cosworth151]

Remember, the driver doesn't determine how the clutch engages. The software does that now. F1 design today is more Rube Goldberg than it is Colin Chapman.

I've also read that Alonso's brake trouble was cause by a helmet visor tear off that lodged in a brake cooling duct. Ah, the marvels of these high tech regenerative brake by wire systems!

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/325426/visor-tear-off-caused-alonso-s-retirement/

[Irisado]

Just trying to be completely fair, Hamilton didn't fluff his start. The on-board clutch bite program failed.

True.  I still remember reading reports from when drivers used to have to get the cars off the line themselves, and so phrases like that stick in my mind.

[lkjohnson1950]

All that should be necessary is to let out the clutch.

Yes but which one Lonny?   

Exactly. And the problem in a nutshell.