Round of Belgium 2010 - Picks and comments

[mlittle]

Delphic is a reference to the Greek oracle at Delphi

Populated with delps ?

I was going to ask this last night, but with insight such as we see from Thaddeus here, should we invite him to join our 10'n'Pole group?

[Jim Watt]

Dear Thaddeus:

Welcome to the forum! Don't be dismayed by Julian's word play; he's just doing the Australian equivalent of leg pulling. Actually, he quite won me over back when the US GP was held in Indianapolis. There's a down under beer company who has exclusive rights to GP's (no doubt another source of cash for dear old Bernie) and I was startled to discover that I couldn't purchase my own favorite brand when I went to the brickyard (for the 500 there are several choices). I suggested that the 'official' beer was not to my taste and wondered if it tasted the same down under.

Julian soon set me straight on the local's position on this particular blend of hops and barley.

Cheers and enjoy the week-end

Jim Watt

p.s. don't be fooled by Julian's suggestion that his picks are random and owing to excess consumption of spirits --he regularly out-picks me and I am always stone cold sober and trying desperately to keep myself in the top century of pole n' tenners. this year I was doing pretty good for the first four or five races. Lately I have fallen to, let's see, 142 out of 2997 --and that was for the German GP, the last one they've tabulated for me. I suspect I fell even farther in Hungary.

[Thaddeus]

I must admit I was somewhat confused by the delps comments

Anyway, if I can get into the top two-thirds I'll be happy, considering I started so late this season.

Speaking of strange Australians ( ) I read on Sarah Holt's (BBC F1 bird) that apparently Webber was really grumpy recently, even saying he could finish sixth in the title race. [Not sure who the fifth-placed chap is meant to be... Rosberg? Massa?] He might've just been in a bad mood, but that's a weird sort of mindset to have.

[Julian Mayo]

I must admit I was somewhat confused by the delps comments

Anyway, if I can get into the top two-thirds I'll be happy, considering I started so late this season.

Speaking of strange Australians ( ) I read on Sarah Holt's (BBC F1 bird) that apparently Webber was really grumpy recently, even saying he could finish sixth in the title race. [Not sure who the fifth-placed chap is meant to be... Rosberg? Massa?] He might've just been in a bad mood, but that's a weird sort of mindset to have.

I was late sending the usual consignment of Dr. Jurds Jungle Juice to him.

[Jim Watt]

Good Grief!! I wanted a good race and I certainly got one, but it was a disaster for my 10 n' pole standings!! A few notes:
It was crazy to assign Vettel a drive through but not Alonso! I think the poor chap has as bad luck as Kimi Raikkonen.
Michael drove an interesting race; his treatment of Nico suggests next year --if the two are paired again-- will be reminiscent of Alonso Hamilton at McLaren.
I don't even want to TALK about the weakness of Ferrari's strategy other than to say if Ross Braun were given the red cars, he'd sure make a whole lot more out of them than they have!!

It looks like Alonso and Vettel and possibly dear ol' Jense (remember him? defending WDC?? ) are out of luck, too.

Finally, look for McLaren to move away from Red Bull at Monza and poor ol Webbo to slip even further back. It would scramble things nicely if Button were to pick up another win there, wouldn't it?

cheers, Jim Watt

[Julian Mayo]

After Monza, it is all Red Bull Type circuits Jim, Webbo would have been laughing like a loon to leave here with a second place. I reckon he figured a 4th or 5th was all he could hope for. When questioned before the race as to his strategy, his reply was."survival, mate". For once I agreed with the commentators, Vettel is involved in too many incidents, I hope Button smacked him upside the head after the race. That was pathetic car control by F1 standards. Schumaker had best watch out for Nico, if he ever gets ahead of him again !!

[Thaddeus]

I have mixed views on Vettel. I think you can argue the toss with the Button calamity. For me the Liuzzi overtake was a classic moment of incompetence (that said, Webber's not exactly an overtaking hotshot. He took out Hamilton at one race earlier in the year, and in another used Kovalainen as a take-off ramp).

Absolutely agree regarding Webber being in the best position for the title now. Monza will be good for McLaren, but after that Red Bull have the advantage. For Webber to get second was a great result after an awful start.

I wonder how well/badly I did in my first 10 'n' Pole. I got Hamilton and Petrov spot on, and a few others in the top 10.

[jacfan]

I must admit I was somewhat confused by the delps comments

Anyway, if I can get into the top two-thirds I'll be happy, considering I started so late this season.

Speaking of strange Australians ( ) I read on Sarah Holt's (BBC F1 bird) that apparently Webber was really grumpy recently, even saying he could finish sixth in the title race. [Not sure who the fifth-placed chap is meant to be... Rosberg? Massa?] He might've just been in a bad mood, but that's a weird sort of mindset to have.

Strange Australian??? Noooooo no strange Australians here... they are way to busy huddling under blanky and ....... well .... gulp... ah..... drinking yeah that's it drinking under blanky.
Did you know that Aussies are teetotlers?
However we do enjoy an delph on the barbie.

[jacfan]

Seb should get a special award for hitting the most drivers in one race. I think he thought he was ten pin bowling in his car!!! lol

Don't think I would want to be him when he met up with a few of them after the race.... drivers meetings could be interesting to say the least.

[Jim Watt]

Hullo Julian:

Agree with you about circuits being "all Red Bull" after Monza, but McLaren have a history of wearing down Ferrari by constantly improving their cars right up to the last race, so Red Bull, with a much smaller budget, must make a much larger target for them.

As to Ferrari's and Mercedes' chances for the balance of the season it's thumbs down I'm afraid. It IS good to see a struggle between McLaren and someone BESIDES Ferrari though.

I've not read the teams' post race comments, but I'm not looking forward to the excuses offered by Lucca the Loser. Poor Fernando; he couldn't work with Mr. Dennis and McLaren and it's looking now like he's latched onto Ferrari just as they're headed into another slump! Just think what he might have done had the Flav and Renault not gone into a tail spin!! And imagine how different the championships would be had Dietrich paired him with the Webbo this year!!

I am still a supporter of Sebastian. If not for a patch of greasy pavement he might well have finished ahead of his partner. The incident with Liuzzi is simply the kind of thing that happens to drivers who race to win, the sort of thing you expect with a hard charger (like Montoya or Raikkonen or, for that matter, Senna). That's why you pair him with a methodical chap like the Webbo: you hope to get MAXIMUM points, but will settle, now and again, for finishing only one car.

I don't think it's maturity or immaturity, cold bloodedness or lack of consideration for other drivers; it's simply going for an opening whenever and however it happens. There's no time to think ... until you get in front of everyone, THEN you can listen to your engineers and strategists.

Except for the tatters my 10'npole rank represents now, I'm tempted to pick Seb for Monza.

Jim Watt

P.S. Does anyone know what the commentators were on about the McLaren's exhaust system? I couldn't hear anything 'off' sounding on my TV ... and what sort of fiddling would they be doing with their exhausts anyway, to what end? Given the RPM's involved, one would think any sort of changing the exhaust flow would be EXTREMELY iffy!

[GhoGho]

Jim,
The exhaust note you refer to was a rather rough sound, almost like a broken exhaust or an exaggerated sound only heard on overrun or trailing throttle.
Unfortunately it wasn't always audible when the commentators spoke about it as the sound source is not always synced to the image.

I agree that messing with the flow would seem very iffy, and what may be causing the sound is still a mystery. I haven't seen anything mentioned in any of the websites.
Maybe it is just resonance off the diffuser at certain rpm/throttle settings caused by the proximity of the exhaust to the new diffuser and not really anything done on purpose, which would be really amusing in that it would have everyone scratching their heads for something that doesn't exist.

Edited: just found this interesting article on Brundle's theory, overburning in the exhaust to generate more heat to assist the diffuser.
http://www.cliptheapex.com/forum/viewto ... f=7&t=2117

[Julian Mayo]

Jim,
The exhaust note you refer to was a rather rough sound, almost like a broken exhaust or an exaggerated sound only heard on overrun or trailing throttle.
Unfortunately it wasn't always audible when the commentators spoke about it as the sound source is not always synced to the image.

I agree that messing with the flow would seem very iffy, and what may be causing the sound is still a mystery. I haven't seen anything mentioned in any of the websites.
Maybe it is just resonance off the diffuser at certain rpm/throttle settings caused by the proximity of the exhaust to the new diffuser and not really anything done on purpose, which would be really amusing in that it would have everyone scratching their heads for something that doesn't exist.

Edited: just found this interesting article on Brundle's theory, overburning in the exhaust to generate more heat to assist the diffuser.
http://www.cliptheapex.com/forum/viewto ... f=7&t=2117

Yikes !! What next, Afterburners ? Now that would make overtaking interesting.

[jacfan]

P.S. Does anyone know what the commentators were on about .........

Sorry Jim but I am not completely sure that the commentators themselves know what they are on about half the time.... And I am being kind by giving them half.

As for Seb welll I am afraid that the only gaps are in his mind and his sanity at various times. It takes a "special" kind of skill to hit that many people in a year let alone a single race.
Still I don't want to shatter you illusions. You keep on supporting him if that is what shakes your tree.

[Jim Watt]

Thanks Gho Gho on the exhaust question.

And, yes, Julian, afterburners are a distinct possibility --after all, this is F1, anything may be tried.

And Jac Fan: that our commentators may be off sometimes; I am shocked shocked to hear it!!

As to my approbation of lil' Seb's racing style; it only covers the intensity of his effort. That he's a little outside the normal parameters goes without saying, but that's true of all the great ones ... even Schuey, as deliberate and methodical and cold-blooded as he is, he is also, often, a little nutty.

Jim Watt

[mlittle]

P.S. Does anyone know what the commentators were on about .........

Sorry Jim but I am not completely sure that the commentators themselves know what they are on about half the time.... And I am being kind by giving them half.

As for Seb welll I am afraid that the only gaps are in his mind and his sanity at various times. It takes a "special" kind of skill to hit that many people in a year let alone a single race.
Still I don't want to shatter you illusions. You keep on supporting him if that is what shakes your tree.

Sometimes I wonder if Sebby V has the "mental maturity" to become a champion in the sport(remember his radio outburst at Hungary.....?). He's got the driving talent to be a WDC(at this level, that's a prerequisite) but he just needs to become a more mature driver, in terms of mental awareness, sanity and knowing when to push it and when to throttle back. Once he does that, he should capture a few WDC's...........he might even rival Schuey one day.