^^^^ I believe that's the reason they did so many laps behind the safety car. They knew that the track wasn't dry enough, and they wouldn't be able to finish the race before dark if they waited any longer, so why not use the race cars to dry off the track, and then go green when it looks "safe" enough. Just my speculation though.

 

I ended up staying up at night to watch. It was a really long night... UFC from 10pm to almost 1am... and then F1 until pretty much the morning. It was really hard to stay awake... but I made it! The endless laps behind the Safety Car didn't help.

 

It was good to see Hamilton calm down a bit. He is a pretty amazing driver in the wet but he knew he needed to survive that race in a points position.

As much as a i dislike Vettel that sucks that his motor blew and of course he is out of motors so now he runs a risk of running used motors for the last 2 circuits.

WTF at Button too.

 

this race ruined my day after vettels motor popped. how red bull cant pull together wins with pole AND second on grid is beyond me.

 

It's hard to get a win when your engine is falling apart leaving chunks of metal down the track. I've seen engines blow up before... but this is the first time I can recall actually seeing pieces of the engine block falling out from underneath the car.

It would be a shame if Red Bull lost. But isn't both Vettel AND Alonso out of engines now? Would suck if they lost a race because of this new engine rule.

 

Yeah. I swear if Vettel didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all. Granted, at time he hasn't helped his own cause, but looking at the number of races he'd have won this year if his car hadn't failed... geez.

l8r)

 

Vettle's car has been so unreliable. I'm certain had his car been reliable this season, he'd probably have the championship locked up.

 

I thought the same about the seeing engine pieces on track.

It wouldnt be a shame imo. redbull and ferrari could have made their engines more reliable but they went for more power if they have a failure too bad for them but if either succeed the championship would be all the more sweet for both fans and the winning team knowing the engines could have gone at any moment. the last two races should be very interesting.

 

^Agree...U take the benefits and the risks...my question is how do the reconditioned engines hold up relative to a new one at this level of competition?...is there a significant difference in the level of failure?...or do they have to loose some power to ensure they can finish the race?

Later, Ken

 

They were talking about this at sazuka or Singapore. Apparently each motor is built to last 2 races. Some races are harder than others - like Korea, half the race was behind the SC in the rain. Apparently they know and log the "life left" in each used motor so if they need to reuse it they can. I am sure each team had their own way of doing things.

I wonder with the addition of India next year if FIA will allot the teams a 9th motor.

 

I think some of the accountability for RB's engine issues has to be put on Renault again, just like last year. However, the factory Renault cars don't seem to have the same problems as the RB's have had the last couple of years with the Renault engines, but thems the breaks when you buy your engines instead of building them yourself.

 

Nooooo! My DVR didn't record the entire race!!! And I didn't watch the 2nd broadcast mid way through because I wanted to watch the entire race from the start. Doh! So may exciting things happened AFTER my DVR cut off.

Sounds like it was very exciting and the championship is still up for grabs till the very end. Very exciting season. Hamilton definitely got a thumbs up in my book with his enthusiasm to race, while those in the points lead were pussying out.

 

After reading this: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87796 it appears that Kimi has lost any chance for a seat he is accustomed to (fast car and high salary) and has slide into the lower levels of Rally Racing... the unfounded comments about Renault using his name has burned a bridge to far. If he wants to return after '11' he will have to lower his demands in order to be picked up.

Later, Ken

 

Well, the season is just about over and some changes, they R a needed. Specifically, the new teams, Lotus HRT and Virgin basically suck...they are 4-5 sec/lap behind the leaders, have not acquired a single point to date and really act as random demolition "bombs" taking out some of the real competitive cars during each race. Will this level of performance continue for next year? Yes and perhaps even worse performance differentials will occur since the development $$ R not there.
In short, these teams have no future and only drag down F1. The question is what do the sponsors/owners of these teams actually gain being in F1 from a commercial point of view? Surely it cannot be something like this plastered on the side of each Virgin aircraft," Virgin Airlines, sponsor of one of the slowest team in F1" and on each Lotus car, " We were great a long time ago"and HRT, "We have no money but want to race"...I am sure U can come up with others.
Some remedy is needed and the current rule regarding lap limits is inadequate and needs to be revised resulting in the elimination of the current new teams from competing until/unless they can become competitive.

Later, Ken

 

although i would agree they suck this year, but if you look at honda, they were no shining star either, then one year later brawn takes over and wins the championship. thats not to say those teams are gonna win, but i would bet they are far more competitive next year then this year. if i were a team manager and i were starting a new team, i wouldn't put any resources into this years car after knowing it isn't at all competitive, it would all go into next years car.