That's Vettel

[darwin dali]

Vettel is title favorite after first win in 2012

[vlad]

Well, he was in the same position at the beginning of the season, it's logical.

[LRW]

SV: Back in business

(for this week)

RB did well this weekend, and do seem to have got their car back to winning ways, well done to them. But for the sake of the season, I do hope they dont run away with it.

[scotty]

(for this week)

Exactly - track temp and how it affects the tyres is the defining point of how this season will turn out.

[What's Burning?]

Congrats to Vettel on a well executed win, not only capitalized on points, but did so when the competition had their worst performance of the season... did I mention I was embarrassed for McLaren today?

As far as the odds go, with the unpredictability of this year, anyone making predictions for the end of the season is a fool, as we're having a hard time simply making predictions for the next race.

(for this week)

Exactly - track temp and how it affects the tyres is the defining point of how this season will turn out.

Scotty do you think Bahrain is the worst track for wear on tires due to the aggregate used? Is Bahrain the worst circuit? I wonder why Pirelli didn't bring hard and medium.

[vlad]

Well, to be honest, RB wasn't the car of the day, Lotus was faster. Just look at their times and their gap on the end. And where is Webber? But, still, fantastic job by the boys!

[andrew]

The job was done once he'd built up a gap at the start. Thereafter it was a case of tyre management and keeping Raikkonen at bay.

[vlad]

Well, keeping Raikkonen away is not that easy as you make it sound. I tried to analyze that move from Kimi, when Vettel defended. Kimi said afterwards that he chose the wrong side, but I think that the reason for that choice was Vettel's wise defending move, in the last moment. So, basically, he left Kimi with no room on the outer side and inner side was just too risky. And after that, his tires war toasted.

[andrew]

Yeah he had to work for it this afternoon. Good to see 2 cahmpions going at it.

[scotty]

(for this week)

Exactly - track temp and how it affects the tyres is the defining point of how this season will turn out.

Scotty do you think Bahrain is the worst track for wear on tires due to the aggregate used? Is Bahrain the worst circuit? I wonder why Pirelli didn't bring hard and medium.

It's all temperature i think.

[What's Burning?]

(for this week)

Exactly - track temp and how it affects the tyres is the defining point of how this season will turn out.

Scotty do you think Bahrain is the worst track for wear on tires due to the aggregate used? Is Bahrain the worst circuit? I wonder why Pirelli didn't bring hard and medium.

It's all temperature i think.

In the SPEED commentary today though, they mentioned that Tilke actually specified a very aggressive aggregate for the pavement in Bahrain to compensate for the expected sand on the track. I know the temperature was killer, but it was actually cooler today than in practice or qualifying.

[scotty]

(for this week)

Exactly - track temp and how it affects the tyres is the defining point of how this season will turn out.

Scotty do you think Bahrain is the worst track for wear on tires due to the aggregate used? Is Bahrain the worst circuit? I wonder why Pirelli didn't bring hard and medium.

It's all temperature i think.

In the SPEED commentary today though, they mentioned that Tilke actually specified a very aggressive aggregate for the pavement in Bahrain to compensate for the expected sand on the track. I know the temperature was killer, but it was actually cooler today than in practice or qualifying.

To be honest though, the wear hasn't actually been much worse than anywhere else if you think about it. To go back to your prior question i don't actually know anything about the specifics of a given track surface myself. But some tracks make for more wear than others - Barcelona is one that has traditionally nailed tyres with those long fast corners. I expect they'll take harder tyres there. Other circuits... hmm, Canada if you think back to 2010? The temperatures more affect the relative performances of each car on the grid at a given point which is why they are so important...

[What's Burning?]

(for this week)

Exactly - track temp and how it affects the tyres is the defining point of how this season will turn out.

Scotty do you think Bahrain is the worst track for wear on tires due to the aggregate used? Is Bahrain the worst circuit? I wonder why Pirelli didn't bring hard and medium.

It's all temperature i think.

In the SPEED commentary today though, they mentioned that Tilke actually specified a very aggressive aggregate for the pavement in Bahrain to compensate for the expected sand on the track. I know the temperature was killer, but it was actually cooler today than in practice or qualifying.

To be honest though, the wear hasn't actually been much worse than anywhere else if you think about it. To go back to your prior question i don't actually know anything about the specifics of a given track surface myself. But some tracks make for more wear than others - Barcelona is one that has traditionally nailed tyres with those long fast corners. I expect they'll take harder tyres there. Other circuits... hmm, Canada if you think back to 2010? The temperatures more affect the relative performances of each car on the grid at a given point which is why they are so important...

You're probably right that the degradation of the physical track is more constant, while the degradation of temperature looks to have some exponential factor to it with temperature... Sorry to get this thread off topic, congratulations Vettel, deja vu all over again.

[vlad]

I think that India was also dusty and sandy like this. Vettel won there too. Maybe he likes to win in a dirty manner.

[LewEngBridewell]

Typical Seb pole to flag victory with a bat-out-of-hell first few laps. Well done to him.