FORUMula1.com

[EwanM]

Mates... in more ways than one

[Gilles 27]

Hammy's not capable of excelling in a poor car. That puts him idfield at best, talent wise. See what happens when you start in F1 in the best car?

anyway, Kovalainen is doing a great job this weekend, as he did in Turkey last year. He was the faster of the two that weekend and had the best strategy to win the race but got tagged by Kimi in the first corner. He then fought his way up from last and half a lap down to 12th, doing most of his overtaking on the track so i would expect him to stay ahead of Lewis tomorrow, providing he is permitted.
Hamilton's been doing a great job this season, that McLaren really shouldn't have got any points out of the first 2 races

[racechick]

There were GPs this year??

maybe you were hibernating

[scotty]

I have a theory (thought up on a traffic jam on the M25!) after Hamilton said he struggled with setup today, and not for the first time this season according to him. Is this a symptom of a relative lack of driving experience within McLaren? I know DLR is there but his contributions are very limited with the testing ban - almost every other team has at least one driver with a few years experience... which appears to be quite a benefit this season. It's not just McLaren either, look at Toro Rosso. They've (well, Bourdais mostly ) complained about setup problems all year, and we know the potential of that chassis. Thoughts?

[Gaz]

Hammy's not capable of excelling in a poor car. That puts him idfield at best, talent wise. See what happens when you start in F1 in the best car?

been watching this season?

I have a theory (thought up on a traffic jam on the M25!) after Hamilton said he struggled with setup today, and not for the first time this season according to him. Is this a symptom of a relative lack of driving experience within McLaren? I know DLR is there but his contributions are very limited with the testing ban - every other team has at least one driver with a few years experience... which appears to be quite a benefit this season. It's not just McLaren either, look at Toro Rosso. They've (well, Bourdais mostly ) complained about setup problems all year, and we know the potential of that chassis. Thoughts?

I don't think PDR tested mid 2008 much.

i think LH can setup a car, i think the car's just rubbish EJ said its the worst car Mclaren have ever built, its certainly the worst MP-4 type anyway

[racechick]

I have a theory (thought up on a traffic jam on the M25!) after Hamilton said he struggled with setup today, and not for the first time this season according to him. Is this a symptom of a relative lack of driving experience within McLaren? I know DLR is there but his contributions are very limited with the testing ban - every other team has at least one driver with a few years experience... which appears to be quite a benefit this season. It's not just McLaren either, look at Toro Rosso. They've (well, Bourdais mostly ) complained about setup problems all year, and we know the potential of that chassis. Thoughts?

I think the cars crap and whether Lewis is good at setting it up or not it wont make that much difference.

[EwanM]

I agree with your point Scotty, I think Mclaren were able to get away with it last year when they had a good car which required less work in terms of set up.

But it could also be due to the lack of inseason testing, they can't really find the sweet spot. No simulator can do that.

[Denthúl]

I have a theory (thought up on a traffic jam on the M25!) after Hamilton said he struggled with setup today, and not for the first time this season according to him. Is this a symptom of a relative lack of driving experience within McLaren? I know DLR is there but his contributions are very limited with the testing ban - almost every other team has at least one driver with a few years experience... which appears to be quite a benefit this season. It's not just McLaren either, look at Toro Rosso. They've (well, Bourdais mostly ) complained about setup problems all year, and we know the potential of that chassis. Thoughts?

It's possible. I mean, yes they won races last year, but on the other hand they seemed to have a few more struggles than in 2007 where, when they were winning races, it was usually by a comfortable margin. But without being having a more experienced driver in an identical car to compare setups, who knows?

[Gaz]

nah you don't get a car that bad down to setup and not from two drivers.

Jenson struggles with setup, hell he's had to get rubens help once or twice but hes still rapid

[darwin dali]

I have a theory (thought up on a traffic jam on the M25!) after Hamilton said he struggled with setup today, and not for the first time this season according to him. Is this a symptom of a relative lack of driving experience within McLaren? I know DLR is there but his contributions are very limited with the testing ban - almost every other team has at least one driver with a few years experience... which appears to be quite a benefit this season. It's not just McLaren either, look at Toro Rosso. They've (well, Bourdais mostly ) complained about setup problems all year, and we know the potential of that chassis. Thoughts?

Maybe LH is indeed not a great technical driver, especially compared to FA.

[Gilles 27]

Hamilton has struggled with setup before actually, it was his one glaring weakness in 2007 (not surprisingly). I can't imagine a good setup is going to cure that dog of a car though...

I'm tempted to agree with DD, I don't get the impression that LH is as technically minded as Alonso or some of the others. He reminds me a bit of Montoya sometimes, very fast and gutsy but perhaps not that bright...

[EwanM]

Hamilton has struggled with setup before actually, it was his one glaring weakness in 2007 (not surprisingly). I can't imagine a good setup is going to cure that dog of a car though...

I'm tempted to agree with DD, I don't get the impression that LH is as technically minded as Alonso or some of the others. He reminds me a bit of Montoya sometimes, very fast and gutsy but perhaps not that bright...

I think your correct with both of your points. I mean Alonso sets the Renault up well, but it's still a terrible car to drive.

[darwin dali]

I'm tempted to agree with DD, I don't get the impression that LH is as technically minded as Alonso or some of the others. He reminds me a bit of Montoya sometimes, very fast and gutsy but perhaps not that bright...

Right up racechick's alley, eh? Both drivers have a big head as well. Let's see whether we'll have a pair of man boobs back in F1 down the road (either way, JPM or LH) That'll make racechick ecstatic

[EwanM]

I wonder if we'll hear the "Shove" tomorrow if Button wins?

"AWESOME LAP, AWESOME LAP"

[Gaz]

Alonso is bound to be better at setup than a rookie, you don't enter F1 and imidialy become Amazing at setting up a car.

But i think considering he won races in 07 and more importantly without the help of Alonso in 08....sorry scratch that without the excuse of all the haters saying it was Alonso and not just won them dominated in them says the Mp-23 was a good car and he could set it up.