2009 Chinese Grand Prix

Who will win the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix?

Poll ended at 19 Apr 2009, 01:26

Jenson Button
28
33%
Rubens Barrichello
8
10%
Lewis Hamilton
5
6%
Heikki Kovalainen
0
No votes
Timo Glock
4
5%
Jarno Trulli
5
6%
Felipe Massa
6
7%
Kimi Raikkonen
8
10%
Fernando Alonso
3
4%
Nico Rosberg
3
4%
Robert Kubica
7
8%
Sebastien Vettel
6
7%
Other (Specify in thread)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 84

Fergie1
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Fergie1 » 20 Apr 2009, 13:26

Ali wrote:A useless and pointless ceremony ended up with what it deserves. Unacceptable? National pride? Oh yeah.
:sleep:

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sejtur
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by sejtur » 20 Apr 2009, 14:46

This article is very good, it's from James Allen's blog. It describes Ferrari's race perfectly, and what it could have been.

China GP up close - Massa’s missed chance

April 19, 2009 by James Allen

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali started the weekend by sending an email to his team asking them to react to the poor start to the season “with pride”.

The team came away from Shanghai empty handed again and now only they and Force India are left without a point. It could have been worse, if Adrian Sutil had held on to his sixth place, but the German driver crashed heavily five laps from the end.

However Domenicali was able to draw some pride from the way the early part of the race unfolded. In his post race briefing he was encouraged by the performance of Felipe Massa in the early part of the race. Massa got as high as third place on lap 20 before an electrical problem forced him to stop out on track. He said that water had got into his electrics and he lost the throttle.

For every success story in F1 there is always a story of what might have been and given Ferrari’s position in the table, this ‘what might have been’ tale will be particularly painful.

“It is very unfortunate because if you look at the first part of the race, Felipe did a fantastic job, ” said Domenicali. “He was really much faster than Sebastian Vettel, who was with low fuel and we had more fuel. So, honestly, in that condition it was perfect. Then unfortunately we had this problem on electronic control which made the car stop, as it was a big shame.

I am pretty sure that with that strategy, and the fact that he did fantastic laps, we would have been on the podium - no doubt.”

I’m not sure he was ever faster than Vettel, but he was certainly at times competitive with Jenson Button, who finished on the podium.

He started the race from 13th place on the grid with a one stop fuel load. His car had around 80 kilos of fuel in it, some 46 kilos more than Vettel, which equates to around 1.6 second per lap extra.

In the opening stint he drove very well, passing Kovalainen on lap 9, Raikkonen on lap 12, Trulli on lap 14, moving to fourth when Buemi pitted on lap 19 and third when Webber pitted on lap 20. At that point Felipe still had a lot of fuel on board. The safety car was out and he was right behind Jenson Button, who finished on the podium and both drivers had one more stop to make. His pace out of the slipstream of other cars was similar to Button’s so you can see what Domenicali means when he says that a podium was within his sights. He had certainly played himself into a position to beat Barrichello.

“It’s a very tough situation, “said Massa afterwards. “We are in a different position from the past but I think we can get away from this problem I’m very motivated to help the team to get away from this difficult time.

“We have two issues, we need to make the car quicker and we need to make it reliable. I feel more comfortable in Bahrain and I think we can be more competitive there and more reliable.”

Ferrari tested for a week in Bahrain in February. They put that knowledge to good use last year, let’s hope they can again this year.

Kimi Raikkonen finished 10th, despite running in front of Lewis Hamilton in the first stint. He switched from a two stop to a one stop strategy, but the timing was all wrong. His problem was that his pit stop came at a time when the field was bunched up shortly after a safety car period. He dropped right down the field and never recovered the positions.

Kimi believes that the team will start to move forward when it gets its new diffuser and floor at the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
“We know that once we get to Barcelona we should take a step with the car. We probably don’t have the same downforce as the others. When we get the new floor for sure we are going to get lots of downforce and it will make the car fast.”
Image

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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Zack » 20 Apr 2009, 16:02

Vettel cut his finger on Shanghai podium
It was a bittersweet podium ceremony in Shanghai not only for Red Bull, but also the team's Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel.

We have already reported that whoever was in charge of the post-race ceremony at the Shanghai International Circuit played the wrong national anthem to mark the Austrian energy drink-owned constructor's win.

Instead of the Austrian song 'Land der Berge, Land am Strome' being played to honour owner Dietrich Mateschitz, the loudspeakers instead proclaimed 'God Save The Queen', presumably because while Red Bull races with an Austrian licence, the team is based in Milton-Keynes, UK.

Bild newspaper, meanwhile, reports that 21-year-old German Vettel sustained a slight injury on the podium as he handled his winner's trophy.


Video and photos show the Red Bull driver sucking the side of his thumb. Vettel revealed to the German publication: "When I was raising the cup, I cut myself, no big deal."

"I put on a sticking plaster and still went to the party," he joked.
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/n ... 1548.shtml

Made in China :p
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TwistedArmco
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 20 Apr 2009, 17:43

James Allen wrote:However Domenicali was able to draw some pride from the way the early part of the race unfolded. In his post race briefing he was encouraged by the performance of Felipe Massa in the early part of the race. Massa got as high as third place on lap 20 before an electrical problem forced him to stop out on track. He said that water had got into his electrics and he lost the throttle.

For every success story in F1 there is always a story of what might have been and given Ferrari’s position in the table, this ‘what might have been’ tale will be particularly painful.

...

In the opening stint he drove very well, passing Kovalainen on lap 9, Raikkonen on lap 12, Trulli on lap 14, moving to fourth when Buemi pitted on lap 19 and third when Webber pitted on lap 20. At that point Felipe still had a lot of fuel on board. The safety car was out and he was right behind Jenson Button, who finished on the podium and both drivers had one more stop to make. His pace out of the slipstream of other cars was similar to Button’s so you can see what Domenicali means when he says that a podium was within his sights. He had certainly played himself into a position to beat Barrichello.
This is what I meant about Felipe's race. I think James has a valid point here in that his race was promising.
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

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Ali
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Ali » 21 Apr 2009, 05:42

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying" -Woody Allen

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escalador
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by escalador » 21 Apr 2009, 17:16

Ali wrote:Chinese GP - Re-Run [Subscription needed but relax, it's for free]
http://www.corny.org/video/1548/F1-Chin ... 009-Part-I
http://www.corny.org/video/1549/F1-Chin ... 09-Part-II
Thank you, mate :thumbsup:

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TwistedArmco
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 21 Apr 2009, 19:26

To those of you who think Alonso made a poor race and had generally poor pace in china, go here and watch china 2009, and note how many places Alonso gains after moving to the back of the field, a few due to people pitting, a few due to his overtakes. Without that spin, he would have finished just behind Kovalainen, given that he was all over the back of him before his spin.
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

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shailf1
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by shailf1 » 21 Apr 2009, 20:19

Red Bull Under investigation
Spoiler:
Following their stunning 1-2 victory in the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, the Red Bull F1 team are to be investigated over allegations that they used a performance-enhancing substance.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the rain-soaked race, with Mark Webber second. However, the result has been contested by Ferrari. The investigation centres around the accusation that the team were using an unauthorised additive which provided additional downforce during the Grand Prix.

Team Principal of Red Bull racing, Christian Horner, dismissed Ferrari's complaint, pointing out that they will complain about almost anything all the time they're not winning. However, he did acknowledge that Red Bull were using a fuel additive, though he claimed it was within the regulations to do so.

Mr Horner said, "we have found that using a small percentage of Red Bull in the fuel tank at pit stops causes the carbon-fibre rear spoiler and diffuser to expand at speed. This effect gives the car approximately 5% more downforce, and on a full-speed flying lap this can equate to as much as half a second off the lap time.

"We have discovered, therefore, that Red Bull does give you wing".

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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by dazmoffman » 21 Apr 2009, 21:04

Lol i thought you were serious for a moment

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sostos
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by sostos » 21 Apr 2009, 21:19

Red Bull Gives You Wings Photo Gallery :shhh:
Spoiler:
Click to enlarge
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Last edited by sostos on 21 Apr 2009, 21:23, edited 2 times in total.

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sostos
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by sostos » 21 Apr 2009, 21:20

more..

Click to enlarge
Spoiler:
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Ali
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by Ali » 22 Apr 2009, 05:31

sostos wrote: Image
These guys really know how to sell their success.

Excellent piece of art!
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying" -Woody Allen

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JoostLamers
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by JoostLamers » 22 Apr 2009, 08:08

Brilliant gallery!
<<<The flag Lew1s waved at
Image

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TwistedArmco
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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 22 Apr 2009, 10:22

Thanks for showing us these brilliant pictures, sostos! :thumbsup:
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

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Re: 2009 FORMULA 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Post by anaconda » 23 Apr 2009, 11:56

does anyone has the pdfs from fia's media centre?

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