FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

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Who will the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix?

Poll ended at 18 Oct 2008, 18:50

Lewis Hamilton
24
33%
Felipe Massa
25
35%
Robert Kubica
9
13%
Kimi Räikkönen
9
13%
Nick Heidfeld
0
No votes
Heikki Kovalainen
0
No votes
Fernando Alonso
5
7%
Sebastian Vettel
0
No votes
Jarno Trulli
0
No votes
Timo Glock
0
No votes
Nico Rosberg
0
No votes
Nelsinho Piquet
0
No votes
Kazuki Nakajima
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 72

Fergie1
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 17 Oct 2008, 15:07

Can anyone tell me why that gravel trap a)even exists and b)why it hasn't been removed after last year as its not exactly safe if someone made the same mistake as Hamilton had at the same time and slammed into the back of him as hes getting out of his car.

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TwistedArmco
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 17 Oct 2008, 15:45

Fergie1 wrote:Can anyone tell me why that gravel trap a)even exists and b)why it hasn't been removed after last year as its not exactly safe if someone made the same mistake as Hamilton had at the same time and slammed into the back of him as hes getting out of his car.
No offence, but you wouldn't be saying that if Hamilton hadn't beached himself in it last year.
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by AzShadow » 17 Oct 2008, 15:46

It exists so that we could see unpredictable scenarios such as somebody losing a championship all of a sudden. No seriously, I don't know how the tracks are designed. Why do they have gravel traps in general?

To be honest, I don't think that the place is unsafe at all because they're going at such low speed and the drivers don't usually really end up on the gravel if their car and tyres are working fine.
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by shailf1 » 17 Oct 2008, 15:51

scermat wrote:Hamiltons pace was impressive. he was consistantly at least 0.2 faster than anyone else. but there's still a lot to go. we all know how last year ended up lol.

the harder tyre seems to be the faster compound here though. and i have a hunch hamilton struggled more with the softer tyres than the ferrari's. so that might spice things up a little.
Well its seems to be the exact opposite. look at the end of fp2.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 17 Oct 2008, 15:54

TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:Can anyone tell me why that gravel trap a)even exists and b)why it hasn't been removed after last year as its not exactly safe if someone made the same mistake as Hamilton had at the same time and slammed into the back of him as hes getting out of his car.
No offence, but you wouldn't be saying that if Hamilton hadn't beached himself in it last year.
You've missed my point. The fact is had last year not happened we wouldn't even realise the issue, someone might mention it and everyone ignores that person. You might think i'm only saying it because Hamilton parked himself there (which i'm not), like I said its because last year brought up the point. Gravel traps are meant to be for safety not causing incidents/accidents.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 17 Oct 2008, 15:58

Fergie1 wrote:
TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:Can anyone tell me why that gravel trap a)even exists and b)why it hasn't been removed after last year as its not exactly safe if someone made the same mistake as Hamilton had at the same time and slammed into the back of him as hes getting out of his car.
No offence, but you wouldn't be saying that if Hamilton hadn't beached himself in it last year.
You've missed my point. The fact is had last year not happened we wouldn't even realise the issue, someone might mention it and everyone ignores that person. You might think i'm only saying it because Hamilton parked himself there (which i'm not), like I said its because last year brought up the point. Gravel traps are meant to be for safety not causing incidents/accidents.
But what "incident/accident" did it cause? Hamilton lamely crawled to a halt.. It's not unsafe, it's just not forgiving.
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by swca92 » 17 Oct 2008, 16:20

That gravel trap is bizarre.Gravel traps are designed to slow cars down before impact with a barrier.Dunno why there's a gravel trap in that part of the pitlane though,it doesn't seem to have a purpose.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by F1 Champion » 17 Oct 2008, 16:22

If somebody takes the corner into the pits a little bit too fast, it might be a good idea to have it there.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 17 Oct 2008, 16:34

TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:
TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:Can anyone tell me why that gravel trap a)even exists and b)why it hasn't been removed after last year as its not exactly safe if someone made the same mistake as Hamilton had at the same time and slammed into the back of him as hes getting out of his car.
No offence, but you wouldn't be saying that if Hamilton hadn't beached himself in it last year.
You've missed my point. The fact is had last year not happened we wouldn't even realise the issue, someone might mention it and everyone ignores that person. You might think i'm only saying it because Hamilton parked himself there (which i'm not), like I said its because last year brought up the point. Gravel traps are meant to be for safety not causing incidents/accidents.
But what "incident/accident" did it cause? Hamilton lamely crawled to a halt.. It's not unsafe, it's just not forgiving.
You missed another point (my fault for not making it clear enough) which is what could happen. It is unsafe if its awful conditions and everyone is slipping and sliding, someone goes off then they are getting out and someone else makes the same mistake. You don't have that problem with normal gravel traps as there is loads of space usually.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by ric.rios » 17 Oct 2008, 16:38

Wow! #Fear
Piquet was very good in 2nd FP...
Barrichello: 300 GP's
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by shailf1 » 17 Oct 2008, 17:10

Fergie1 wrote:
TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:
TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:Can anyone tell me why that gravel trap a)even exists and b)why it hasn't been removed after last year as its not exactly safe if someone made the same mistake as Hamilton had at the same time and slammed into the back of him as hes getting out of his car.
No offence, but you wouldn't be saying that if Hamilton hadn't beached himself in it last year.
You've missed my point. The fact is had last year not happened we wouldn't even realise the issue, someone might mention it and everyone ignores that person. You might think i'm only saying it because Hamilton parked himself there (which i'm not), like I said its because last year brought up the point. Gravel traps are meant to be for safety not causing incidents/accidents.
But what "incident/accident" did it cause? Hamilton lamely crawled to a halt.. It's not unsafe, it's just not forgiving.
You missed another point (my fault for not making it clear enough) which is what could happen. It is unsafe if its awful conditions and everyone is slipping and sliding, someone goes off then they are getting out and someone else makes the same mistake. You don't have that problem with normal gravel traps as there is loads of space usually.

There is a track on the other side of the gravel trap and that is what it was made for, not for the pit lane entry.
Dont moan about it, its same for all. It can be said that it is a punishment for driver who try to be agressive while entering the pits.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 17 Oct 2008, 17:21

Same for all is a c**p argument, it still the entry to the pits even on the other track. And for the record I am not moaning about it because Hamilton went in it last year, its more unsafe than safe.
Lets just talk about something else because this will go backwards and forwards.
Last edited by Fergie1 on 17 Oct 2008, 17:44, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by HandoZiZle » 17 Oct 2008, 17:27

I'm hoping Kubica can be thrown into the WDC so we can have another close 3 way battle at Interlagos. It's pretty amazing how consistent he's been in these last races.
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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 17 Oct 2008, 18:06

Fergie1 wrote:
TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:
TwistedArmco wrote:
Fergie1 wrote:Can anyone tell me why that gravel trap a)even exists and b)why it hasn't been removed after last year as its not exactly safe if someone made the same mistake as Hamilton had at the same time and slammed into the back of him as hes getting out of his car.
No offence, but you wouldn't be saying that if Hamilton hadn't beached himself in it last year.
You've missed my point. The fact is had last year not happened we wouldn't even realise the issue, someone might mention it and everyone ignores that person. You might think i'm only saying it because Hamilton parked himself there (which i'm not), like I said its because last year brought up the point. Gravel traps are meant to be for safety not causing incidents/accidents.
But what "incident/accident" did it cause? Hamilton lamely crawled to a halt.. It's not unsafe, it's just not forgiving.
You missed another point (my fault for not making it clear enough) which is what could happen. It is unsafe if its awful conditions and everyone is slipping and sliding, someone goes off then they are getting out and someone else makes the same mistake. You don't have that problem with normal gravel traps as there is loads of space usually.
Feasibly, yes that could happen. But also feasibly, that could happen anywhere. At the end of a pitlane is an unusual place to go off, but what would alternatives to gravel do in the situation you mentioned? Not a great deal of difference, is there? I would prefer a no compromise approach on most tracks. The level of run off, usually slightly dusty and not really that punishing, and often helpful to minimizing time-loss, is one of the lamest elements of modern F1. The less forgiving, the better.

Note: I typed this before dinner, presumably some 30-40 minutes ago, hence I will post it.
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

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Re: FORMULA 1 2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Zack » 17 Oct 2008, 18:09

Fergie1 wrote:Same for all is a c**p argument, it still the entry to the pits even on the other track. And for the record I am not moaning about it because Hamilton went in it last year, its more unsafe than safe.
Lets just talk about something else because this will go backwards and forwards.
If it was unsafe ...we would have heard Weber/GPDA members whining about it! :O
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There is no point in defining a point... But there is a point in trying -Zack

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