F1 Korea Qualifying Sat 5 Oct 2013 14:30 AEST ONE HD

[gary]

Coverage of the qualifying session for the Korean Grand Prix commences on
Saturday 5th Oct at 14:30 AEST on ONE HD.

Coverage of the race itself is on Sunday starting at 16:30 AEST also on ONE.

Many of us who live in Sydney will no doubt be at the harbour for the massive
International Fleet Review. So don't forget to set your recorders! :thumbsup:

Hamilton set the fastest time during P1 today with a 1:36.630 followed by Vettel
only 4/100ths of a second slower. Webber was third fastest and a little less than
2/10ths slower than Hamilton.

Webber of course will be taking the ten place grid penalty which he received after the
end of the race in Singapore.

P2 is underway at the moment and Hamilton is again the fastest, ahead of
Vettel, Roseberg, Webber and Massa.

It is currently sunny in South Korea but it is forecast to be partially cloudy over the
weekend. Tropical Storm Fitow is predicted to veer south of South Korea.
Many will remember the storm at the inaugural race in 2010 that suspended the race
for an hour.

Sebastian Vettel has been laughing off suggestions that the Red Bull was
illegally fitted with traction control.
Story here -
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/03/motor-racing-prix-redbull-idUKL4N0HT1WJ20131003

[gary]

Note that coverage of the race itself is on ONE not TEN. :thumbsup:

[gary]

As has often been the case, Mark Webber's DNF at yesterday's Korean
Grand Prix makes for an interesting study in causality.

In Singapore, Mark's engine loses water. Perhaps earlier a component had failed,
or had not been correctly fitted. Despite short shifting and keeping revs low, the
engine loses power and eventually catches on fire.

He hitches a lift back with Alonso at the end of the race, giving him a third
reprimand and with it a 10 place grid penalty in Korea.

The pending penalty influences his strategy during qualifying. He abandons his last
lap in Q3 to save the tyres, forgoing becoming second fastest and settling for third.

During the race he battles up through the pack. As luck would have it, just
as he is coming out of the pits, Perez locks up at the end of the pit lane straight,
damaging a tyre.

Mark comes out behind Perez and seconds later the damaged tyre dramatically fails.
Despite trying to avoid the debris, Webber scores a puncture and the Safety
Car comes out. Most of the pack in front of him score a free pit stop and
Mark is forced to pit again and discard what were a brand new set of Medium tyres.

To rub salt in the wounds further, he has to go onto the Super Softs as no
new Medium compound tyres are available.

He comes out of the pits a little ahead of Sutil who out-brakes himself at the end
of the main straight, and into the side of Mark's car. Mark pulls off the track.

If that is not enough, Mark's damaged car then catches on fire and possibly
destroys one of his last remaining engines, with several races yet to go.
With one week to go to Japan, the possibility of damage to the chassis looms
as well.

Most of us would probably want to get away from the car as quickly as possible
but Mark does not abandon it. He looks on forlornly as the fire becomes
hotter and more intense and engulfs the rear of the RB9.
The fire marshals seem to take an eternity (http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/466494/Red_Bull_question_response_to_Mark_ Webber_fire/).

So whether you call it cause and effect or a string of bad luck, it is funny how
you can trace the origins of these things back in time. Whether it started with a faulty
part in Singapore that caused the water leak or whether that penalty ended up being
the penalty that just kept on giving is now all conjecture.

But the good news is that he walked away physically unscathed and lives to
race another day. :thumbsup:

Such is life. :)

[The_bluester]

The race led me to wonder about the setup that they use. More than one he has been out of position for one reason or another at the start and they have made setup changes to the car as a result, usually taking downforce away and trading it for top speed and compromising what would be quali performance for race performance. At least once they worked on it in park feme and started him from the pit lane to make changes.

Both times he notably carved his way through the field. RBR have often appeared to sacrafice straight line speed for downforce, which works well if the cards fall your way and you are in clean air and can put the downforce to use to carry high corner speeds to make lap time but if you are fighting for positions the dirty air compromises the aero performance and the lower gear ratios they select to drive it against he drag in high downforce trim leave them legeless when they get up behind someone and instead of the DRS meaning a relatively easy pass, it just results in a long time on the rev limiter.

You would have to ask why they do not set his car up like that more often. Better to be a couple of rows back on the grid with a car that can actually pass another one without the other car driver having to make a mistake than to be up the front in a car that is a sitting duck in a straight line.

His luck this year seems to be mirroring the luck he had in earlier years.

Edit: And I thikn from quotes from him, Webber shares my view of the current tyres. I just can't come at them "I can drive slower than you and still be impossible to pass" to preserve tyres which can go from new to worn out in around 15 minutes of a 2 hour race just does not do it for me. I want to see drivers having a big crack on old tyresto try to jum the car they were behind with one cracking lap after the other car pitted than to see cars lapping slower and slower and slower and then one of the cars pits for new tyres so they get a benefit out of that. Tyres that degrade by seconds per lap in a live of just a handful of KM are just bleh to me.

[simmo]

I just watched the replay today after being away for the weekend. The scrap between Hulkenberg, Hami and Alonso was nail bitingly close.

I found it interesting about the commentators conversation that Hulkenberg may have troubles next year with weight issues with the new car changes. Seems he needs to lose some weight to be able to qualify or that's what I gathered. Seems a shame if he misses out after his performances of late.

Possibilities this is why Webber is getting out now? Sees the writing on the wall considering his weight issues now. Interestingly they had a commentator talking about his diet on ABC radio over the weekend and Webber had made the comment that he hadn't been able to eat without restriction for many years to keep his weight right for regulations.

Probably getting deep here but I would have thought that this is a bit of discrimination. The future pool of drivers picked yes for talent but also jockey rider sizes. Where's the equality for drivers with better talent but a larger frame? I can see why this happens for GP bikes but cars also? :shrug:

Looking forward to the next races. :) Even if Sebs a shoe in for the title. I think Alonso is looking a little fragile in second seeing that typically the Ferraris do better in Europe than away.:question:

[gary]

Hi Simmo,

Thanks for your observations and I enjoyed reading Paul's thoughtful post too.

There was also an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on Oct 4th by Tom Cary on the
weight issue.

Lewis Hamilton's suggestion on how he might shed some kilos is pretty drastic. :lol:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/mark-webber-says-he-has-starved-for-years-as-formula-one-struggles-with-heavy-drivers-20131004-2uyfu.html

[simmo]

:lol::lol: owww!

Good read Gary. That article really goes in depth on a subject probably not given the proper awareness and I think it will have to be thought about hard by the governing bodies involved. Will it happen now with most of the teams r&d probably a long way on?

[gary]

Hi Simmo,

With some of the commentary about the weight issue at the moment there is
the theme that it is discriminatory.

However, there is an even a longer precedent in the horse racing industry for riders
and job prospects for morbidly obese jockeys are probably, to coin a phrase, "slim".

So probably fat chance it will change in F1 any time soon.

This Foxsports article I found from 2010 also makes for a quick interesting read.
Mark Webber is being interviewed at the time and talks about how tough the
height and weight challenge was for him. He talks about how bruised his
elbows and knees would become as they smashed into the carbon fibre
cockpit under the G-loading.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sports/mark-webber-has-wrong-physique-for-f1-but-still-finding-success/story-e6frf3z3-1225924536950

[The_bluester]

I really should proof read twice as much!

I can remember talk of Webber being difficult to fit into a modern GP car just about from the start of his time with Minardi. Though they now seem to just slide them down further into the car it must get very uncomfortable. Looking at some of the cars, with modern regs the drivers have their feet up higher than their hips and they are laying back so far that they must rely on the crotch straps and seat moulding to keep them from submarining every time they apply the brakes.


Maybe Hamilton's suggestion would be more comfortable, if likely to lead to a reduction in bravery!

[Larryp]

I remember David Coulthard once saying that driving a modern GP car was like laying in a bathtub with your feet on the taps.:)

[The_bluester]

It must be a very strange feeling way to drive a car with your heels up above your bum.