FORUMula1.com

[yamashek]

Hamilton is gonna be tearing up the grid like a bat out of hell. He's either going to get points tomorrow or take himself and somebody else out during an aggressive passing move because he doesn't have time to bull with midfielders

Hammy gotta make sure he develops a good relationship with HRT's NK quickly..so that his tyres won't get slashed in the first corner

[geetface9]

and don't forget massa in 17th

[myownalias]

and don't forget massa in 17th

And Schumacher in eighth and Rosberg in sixth... hell there is no chance of Hamilton finishing the race!!!

[geetface9]

Oh wow, great point! I forgot all about the bahrain antics between he and rosberg!!!! Good thing I didn't pick him for a points position in the F1 pool

[mnmracer]

Considering Vettel finished 5th in China after going into the first corner on p15 with an uncompetitive Red Bull, Hamilton should be able to breeze to the points. How far up he'll get is another thing, as it doesn't help that he has fewer tires, but it's not like he's out of points' reach.

[calvins48]

I was stoked to see hamiliton on pole, but I'm not broken up over his penalty. He went out twice in Q3, if he would have pulled off that lap the first time, we would not be having this conversation. One might even be bold to say that nice .5 off the time was because of his extreme lightness due to fuel.

Eitherway, his fault. Totally his damn fault and I am sure he is in his room thinking about how he could have went faster then first time.

Playing catch up in Q3 looks heroic, but is also very risky as you usually get no other chances after that.


With all that said, back of the grid, is a bit much. 10th with a fine to the team would have been better.

What??

That makes no sense at all.

It wasn't his fault that he didn't do a fast lap the first time, his team told him to do a banker lap to get a time on the board just in case. Seb Vettel did exactly the same thing but just set sector times.

The blame lies in the mechanic who didn't fill up the car with the required amount of fuel. He made a mistake and he, his team and the two drivers will pay for it.

[calvins48]

Considering Vettel finished 5th in China after going into the first corner on p15 with an uncompetitive Red Bull, Hamilton should be able to breeze to the points. How far up he'll get is another thing, as it doesn't help that he has fewer tires, but it's not like he's out of points' reach.

P15 and P24 is almost another ten positions Hamilton has to make up.

Passing those slower cars might be easier with a couple of blue flags...

[FerrariFan63]

It appears that Craig Longdon has left McLaren after getting the blame for what happened yesterday.

https://twitter.com/#!/CraigLongdon_F1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He also predicts that Martin Whitmarsh will leave soon because of the pressure.

Edit: And "F1Undercovers" says that four people have left McLaren, including two aerodynamic technicians, one mechanic, and one pit-stop crew.

https://twitter.com/#!/F1Undercovers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Surely this can't be just this weekend?

The F1Undercovers also predict that Whitmarsh will be gone, and that Lewis won't sign for them next season.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Ferrari has a substandard car, but the team is sticking together. McLaren has the best car, and all this is happening.

[calvins48]

A tap on the team's refuelling device was initially moved the wrong way by a mechanic, meaning the fuel was being sucked out rather than pumped in. Upon realising his error, he switched the tap to the correct setting, but with the seconds counting down to give Hamilton enough time to do the out-lap and begin his flying lap, the car was released with insufficient fuel.

Is what happened.

Having enjoyed what he said was one of his best-ever qualifying sessions, Hamilton was sent to the back of the grid after his McLaren car was subsequently found to be under-weight and the stewards rejected his team's plea that their mistake had been caused by a 'force majeure'.

"This is such a disappointment. Today's qualifying session was one of the best I've ever driven - the whole car was just rolling so smoothly - it felt fantastic," the 2008 World Champion said late on Saturday evening.

"But, on my slowing-down lap, my engineers told me to stop on the track, and I didn't know why. Later, to hear that I'd been excluded from qualifying, was of course extremely disappointing.

"But, now, looking ahead to tomorrow, I think it's clear that it's going to be an incredibly tough race for us. Even so, as always, I'll never give up and I'll give it everything I've got. It would mean so much to me to get a good result here in Spain: it's such a pleasure to come here and the support I get is amazing.

"As I always say, and as I always do, whatever grid position I start a Grand Prix from, I'll always race my heart out."

The severity of the punishment immediately provoked debate, with Sky Sports' Martin Brundle of the opinion that it was too harsh.

He tweeted: "Suspect clear cut stewards decision on HAM re regulations but feel they should have deleted that lap time only which would have put him 6th."

The decision means that Williams' Pastor Maldonado will start from pole position for the first time in his career ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Lewis' thoughts.

[vlad]

Main straight is pretty long in Barcelona, I'm quite sure that Hamilton will have a decent start and pass at least 5 or 6 drivers before the first corner. The car didn't change, it works perfectly, so is he... Don't worry, he'll get those points.

[vlad]

I'm a mclaren fan and I'm really bummed bacause of what happened to lewis but rules are rules. I just wish the stewards would enforce the rules more consistently....

The rule was brought in after Lewis did this in Canada 2010, If they are going to do it for Qualifying what irks me is they don't do it for the race. Drivers aren't required to get back to the pits under their own power there we saw Vettel at Barhain stop without doing this to save fuel for scrutineering.

Dear Vettel hater, Sebastian Vettel isn't the only driver that stopped the car after the end of the race. In that same race Rosberg stopped just after him. Button stopped last year after win in Suzuka. So, if you want to say something about the rules, don't always use Vettel as your target. Thank you!

[mnmracer]

Considering Vettel finished 5th in China after going into the first corner on p15 with an uncompetitive Red Bull, Hamilton should be able to breeze to the points. How far up he'll get is another thing, as it doesn't help that he has fewer tires, but it's not like he's out of points' reach.

P15 and P24 is almost another ten positions Hamilton has to make up.

Passing those slower cars might be easier with a couple of blue flags...

Hamilton will probably be at least P19 by the first corner and have overtaken the Torro Rosso's and Caterhams by lap 1. Considering he isn't 17th in the speed trap on the longest straight of the calendar, it should be a piece of cake.

[bud]

I'm a mclaren fan and I'm really bummed bacause of what happened to lewis but rules are rules. I just wish the stewards would enforce the rules more consistently....

The rule was brought in after Lewis did this in Canada 2010, If they are going to do it for Qualifying what irks me is they don't do it for the race. Drivers aren't required to get back to the pits under their own power there we saw Vettel at Barhain stop without doing this to save fuel for scrutineering.

Dear Vettel hater, Sebastian Vettel isn't the only driver that stopped the car after the end of the race. In that same race Rosberg stopped just after him. Button stopped last year after win in Suzuka. So, if you want to say something about the rules, don't always use Vettel as your target. Thank you!

WTF? How is that being a Vettel hater? it was an incident by the race winner from the previous race for fcuks sake!

anyways my point stands, if they are going to enforce this rule for Qualifying then it should also be enforced for the race! in both cases there needs to be x amount of fuel for scrutineering so god knows why in a race you're not required to make it back to the pits under your own power.

[vlad]

New DRS length should be helpful, so I don't doubt that Hamilton will progress a lot.

[Injen]

This thread should not be a point scoring dig at any driver it should be about the pathetic rules of the sport we all say we love.Should Mclaren be punished,yes they should but not as harshly as they have been.I follow the line of MB and Lewis should be in 6th place not behind cars that didn't even go out for Q3 but behind a car that didn't even make the qualifying rules,it's ludicrous.

But it's done now and it's race day.I really think that we could see one of the best drives of Lewis's career,bit between the teeth and keeping his cool while he drives like the champion he is.The best way to shove it in the FIA faces is to end up with good points and still be amongst the top four of the WDC.

Go Lewis.