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[McLaren Fan]

First, I can see why Hamilton and his race engineer, Phil Prew, would have considered using intermediate tyres. The track had dried up slightly at the end of the first qualifying session, but even then, most drivers were still not confident to use intermediate tyres. But why the hell did you not look at the weather radar? The dogs on the streets new it was about to pour down from the heavens! Intermediate tyres were, therefore, useless. On top of this, it was only the second qualifying session, so there was no need to take any risks whatsoever. All that was needed was a decent time to get the team into the pole position shoot-out.

What another waste of an opportunity. Ferrari were struggling in the rain, particularly Raikkonen, so it was another good chance for Hamilton to put himself in a good position to extent his championship lead and for McLaren to take another bite out of Ferrari's constructors' title lead. Do McLaren want to win anything this season? With Kovalainen's poor performance all season long and Hamilton's poor pace and subsequent cock-up this race, we may as well give Ferrari and Massa the titles.

This is not good enough. We are McLaren. We have the best facilities in Formula One. We exist to win. We are not country bumpkins. Sort it out.

[AKR]

First, I can see why Hamilton and his race engineer, Phil Prew, would have considered using intermediate tyres. The track had dried up slightly at the end of the first qualifying session, but even then, most drivers were still not confident to use intermediate tyres. But why the hell did you not look at the weather radar? The dogs on the streets new it was about to pour down from the heavens! Intermediate tyres were, therefore, useless. On top of this, it was only the second qualifying session, so there was no need to take any risks whatsoever. All that was needed was a decent time to get the team into the pole position shoot-out.

What another waste of an opportunity. Ferrari were struggling in the rain, particularly Raikkonen, so it was another good chance for Hamilton to put himself in a good position to extent his championship lead and for McLaren to take another bite out of Ferrari's constructors' title lead. Do McLaren want to win anything this season? With Kovalainen's poor performance all season long and Hamilton's poor pace and subsequent chicken-up this race, we may as well give Ferrari and Massa the titles.

This is not good enough. We are McLaren. We have the best facilities in Formula One. We exist to win. We are not country bumpkins. Sort it out.

First off if Heikki can win great, don't really care as long as Massa finishes higher than Lewis Hamilton and gets points. Second if Lewis Hamilton can screw up and not finish or get points better still. Thirdly with a bit of luck, Kimi can start playing his role and just hold up Lewis Hamilton for as long as he can.

Note to that last point you made about McLaren. It should read. We are McLaren. We have the second best facilities in Formula One. We exist to come second. We are country bumpkins. No sorting out required.

Ferrari's facilities kick arse over anything McLaren has. We are Ferrari the greatest team of all. We exist to win and Formula 1 exists because of us. Fact.

[7UpJordan]

What gets me is why didn't they just simply bring him back in and put full wets on? So what if it's another set wasted, it's not like a lap or 2 to get him into Q3 would wear them down much and they could have still been used tomorrow. It's almost as inexplicable as why they didn't bring him in earlier in China when even a blind man could see that tyre was totally worn out.

[McLaren Fan]

Joking aside, McLaren do have the best facilities in Formula One, with the Technology Centre and Brand Centre etc., but why aren't they paying off? Stupid gaffes like the one made today don't help, that's certain anyway.

[AKR]

Joking aside, McLaren do have the best facilities in Formula One, with the Technology Centre and Brand Centre etc., but why aren't they paying off? Stupid gaffes like the one made today don't help, that's certain anyway.

Ok Chris, I'll accept they have the Best facilties in F1, but given this why did McLaren need to cheat last year in order to try and beat Ferrari? Surely someone who has the best stuff wouldn't need to resort to cheating you know.

[McLaren Fan]

What gets me is why didn't they just simply bring him back in and put full wets on? So what if it's another set wasted, it's not like a lap or 2 to get him into Q3 would wear them down much and they could have still been used tomorrow. It's almost as inexplicable as why they didn't bring him in earlier in China when even a blind man could see that tyre was totally worn out.

What happened in China was a risk, but it would have paid off if Hamilton considered that the pit lane would have less grip than the track and if he didn't overcook the entry into the pitlane anyway.

I don't mind the team taking risks, but there are risks and then there are risks. There was no advantage to be gained in Q2 by using the intermediate tyres. It was a stupid decision and the employees who decided upon this need a damn good talking to.

[bud]

First, I can see why Hamilton and his race engineer, Phil Prew, would have considered using intermediate tyres. The track had dried up slightly at the end of the first qualifying session, but even then, most drivers were still not confident to use intermediate tyres. But why the hell did you not look at the weather radar? The dogs on the streets new it was about to pour down from the heavens! Intermediate tyres were, therefore, useless. On top of this, it was only the second qualifying session, so there was no need to take any risks whatsoever. All that was needed was a decent time to get the team into the pole position shoot-out.

What another waste of an opportunity. Ferrari were struggling in the rain, particularly Raikkonen, so it was another good chance for Hamilton to put himself in a good position to extent his championship lead and for McLaren to take another bite out of Ferrari's constructors' title lead. Do McLaren want to win anything this season? With Kovalainen's poor performance all season long and Hamilton's poor pace and subsequent chicken-up this race, we may as well give Ferrari and Massa the titles.

This is not good enough. We are McLaren. We have the best facilities in Formula One. We exist to win. We are not country bumpkins. Sort it out.

First off if Heikki can win great, don't really care as long as Massa finishes higher than Lewis Hamilton and gets points. Second if Lewis Hamilton can screw up and not finish or get points better still. Thirdly with a bit of luck, Kimi can start playing his role and just hold up Lewis Hamilton for as long as he can.

Note to that last point you made about McLaren. It should read. We are McLaren. We have the second best facilities in Formula One. We exist to come second. We are country bumpkins. No sorting out required.

Ferrari's facilities kick arse over anything McLaren has. We are Ferrari the greatest team of all. We exist to win and Formula 1 exists because of us. Fact.

this is what i always talk about Kiki

dont worry Chris gambles sometimes dont pay off, you can go from hero to zero depending on the outcome! but i agree the risk was not needed especially in Q2.
Hopefully Heikki can get the win and Lewis can do some recovery work

McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen: A really close session; I missed pole by just .076 seconds. My first attempt in Q3 wasn't perfect and further rain later in the session made it almost impossible to improve. On my final run, I gave it everything but there wasn't enough grip to beat Sebastian Vettel. But congratulations to him on his first pole. Nevertheless, second on the grid is still a good basis for tomorrow; our car has shown good pace in both the wet and the dry so I'm feeling confident."

Lewis Hamilton: It was a joint decision to go out on wet-weather tyres at the start of Q2 - partly mine and partly my engineers'. We thought it was the right way to go at the time because it was getting dryer but the grip-level was poor so I came in and switched to extremes. By the time I got out, it had begun to rain and I just missed the window when the track was at its fastest; it was also very hard to pick out the braking points. It's the first time this has happened to me in Formula 1, so I can't really complain - tomorrow's another day and we still have a fighting chance to make our way up the grid. I'll be doing the best job I can."

akr shut up with the cheating BS would ya

[deMuRe]

Totally bewildered at their decision to take a risk in Q2...

[racechick]

What gets me is why didn't they just simply bring him back in and put full wets on? So what if it's another set wasted, it's not like a lap or 2 to get him into Q3 would wear them down much and they could have still been used tomorrow. It's almost as inexplicable as why they didn't bring him in earlier in China when even a blind man could see that tyre was totally worn out.

They did didnt they?? But it was too late conditions were getting too bad to post a good time

[EwanM]

We are McLaren. We have the best facilities in Formula One. We exist to win. We are not country bumpkins. Sort it out.

True, True. True but so does others, such as Torro Rosso. Well the Technology centre is out in the country . Maybe they should promote that guy who changes lightbulbs in the factory onto the pit wall..

I was actually annoyed at that... as much as it is a pleasure listening to ITV try will Hamilton on into 10th when he is always a least 2 seconds away is satisfying, especially after the drivel which was the build up.
But after the dust had settled I had realised that I felt sorry for the team. If Kovy has a start like in Spa, Massa could have a clear run...
Seems that last week's penalty has made Mclaren roll the dice, but this time it hasn't paid off.

[McLaren Fan]

We are McLaren. We have the best facilities in Formula One. We exist to win. We are not country bumpkins. Sort it out.

True, True. True but so does others, such as Torro Rosso. Well the Technology centre is out in the country . Maybe they should promote that guy who changes lightbulbs in the factory onto the pit wall..

I was actually annoyed at that... as much as it is a pleasure listening to ITV try will Hamilton on into 10th when he is always a least 2 seconds away is satisfying, especially after the drivel which was the build up.
But after the dust had settled I had realised that I felt sorry for the team. If Kovy has a start like in Spa, Massa could have a clear run...
Seems that last week's penalty has made Mclaren roll the dice, but this time it hasn't paid off.

But that's thing I'm so annoyed about. There was no need to roll the dice. Q2 counts for nothing except for getting you into Q3, which is what matters for McLaren and Hamilton. The team should have sent Hamilton out on the extreme-wet tyres. That way he would at least got into Q3, so he would have been fives places better off already. I still cannot understand what Hamilton and Prew were thinking.

[EwanM]

We are McLaren. We have the best facilities in Formula One. We exist to win. We are not country bumpkins. Sort it out.

True, True. True but so does others, such as Torro Rosso. Well the Technology centre is out in the country . Maybe they should promote that guy who changes lightbulbs in the factory onto the pit wall..

I was actually annoyed at that... as much as it is a pleasure listening to ITV try will Hamilton on into 10th when he is always a least 2 seconds away is satisfying, especially after the drivel which was the build up.
But after the dust had settled I had realised that I felt sorry for the team. If Kovy has a start like in Spa, Massa could have a clear run...
Seems that last week's penalty has made Mclaren roll the dice, but this time it hasn't paid off.

But that's thing I'm so annoyed about. There was no need to roll the dice. Q2 counts for nothing except for getting you into Q3, which is what matters for McLaren and Hamilton. The team should have sent Hamilton out on the extreme-wet tyres. That way he would at least got into Q3, so he would have been fives places better off already. I still cannot understand what Hamilton and Prew were thinking.

lol maybe he wanted to prove he could emmulate schumacher?

[onelapdown]

What a balls-up. A terrible call on the tyres probably caused by either an impulsive decision to take a gamble or a worry about wearing out what few wet tyres they have. In the end they got the worst of both worlds but that's always a possibility in those conditions. It's very easy to say "I could have made a better decision than that" but if you've ever played a racing sim with a decent wet-weather function you'll know sometimes you can think "this is probably dry enough for inters", then stick 'em on and wonder what on earth you were thinking. If inters HAD been the way to go both Raikkonen AND Massa would probably have been outside the top 10 and we'd be saying what a good call it was.

[Hanwombat]

OH MCLAREN OH LEWIS

[7UpJordan]

James Allen probably told Hamilton to do it so he could start making Senna/Schumi comparisons if Hamilton did well on the inters.