McLaren drivers not giving up on 2011 yet

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Hamilton is energised by McLaren’s pace at the Nurburgring.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button insist they can still win world title (The Guardian)

Lewis Hamilton: “Our pace and what we were able to do today just again reminds me of how strong a team I have and how they never give up and how we can do it.”

German GP – Conference 3 (FIA)

Sebastian Vettel: “I don’t race and think about the championship all the time. Sure it’s important to finish the race tomorrow but first of all I’m going to enjoy it, because it doesn’t happen too often you have so much support. It was very nice to see so many people in the grandstands waving our national flag and some Red Bull flags as well, so that was very nice. I will enjoy that more than anything else tomorrow whatever the result will be.”

Q&A with Red Bull’s Christian Horner (F1)

“I always said that I expect our 2012 driver line-up to be the same. Obviously we haven’t sat down and signed the contract, but ultimately I expect that to be a formality. I am very happy with the two drivers we have. They push each other hard and I can’t imagine any other driver in our car, or Red Bull in any other team’s car next year.”

Former F1 Investor Backs Fresh Bid Attempt (Sky News)

“Scott Lanphere, who runs Aletheia Partners, a London-based investment firm, is working with News Corporation and Exor, the Italian firm which controls Fiat, on their interest in acquiring F1 from CVC Capital Partners, the sport’s current owner.”

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Comment of the day

Prisoner Monkeys is concerned Pirelli are becoming too conservative:

I really hope Martin Brundle’s comments about Pirelli changing the tyre compounds have nothing to do with Pirelli bowing to pressure simply because another tyre manufacturer has been taking swipes at them. I’m hoping they’re just changing the tyres to keep everyone on their toes.
Prisoner Monkeys

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On this day in F1

Jack Brabham won his third consecutive race of the 1966 season at Zandvoort on this day 45 years ago.

He led home Graham Hill, his closest championship rival, by a lap. Following the race Brabham had 30 points to Hill’s 14 and was well on the way to his third drivers’ championship title.

Image © McLaren

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34 comments on “McLaren drivers not giving up on 2011 yet”

  1. Elliot Horwood
    24th July 2011, 0:44

    WOOOOOOO :D got back from work at 10pm watched the F1 at 10:30pm and just finished seeing Hamilton get P2 FRONT ROW OF GRID!! HAMILTON WILL WIN THE RACE! :D :D :D

    1. heres to hope

      1. My wife, who is far from an F1 analyst, made the bold claim he will win tomorrow because of his grid position and the fact that he shares the front row with MW. Even she recognizes the aussie’s habit of poor starts. Two poles this year where he hasnt even led after the first lap, muliple places lost at multiple GP’s…I think it looks good for Lewis.

        But those overalls…

        1. Cant wait to see Lewis fade during the race and then complain about how bad his car is.

          1. Word status: eaten.

          2. d3v0 – lol!

    2. Good to see the enthusiasm!

  2. yea the overalls do look stupid, but to be fair the one yesterday arnt anywhere near as bad as some of the others

    yea hopefully webber stalls, vettel runs into the back of him, and they both DNF, cos lets face it, its the best hope of keeping this championship alive!

    1. meant to be a response to d3v0

    2. That is a really mean thing to say…and I totally agree! :-) LOL

    3. actually I like these black overalls on them, a lot better than almost all circus act like ones this year (Silverstone were ok).

    4. Haha nothing is worse than Vettel’s disco ball helmet.

      Regarding the constructor’s race, its sad that Mclaren won the race but the gap actually widened by 2 points :( Just cant buy a DNF for RBR!

      1. And the Black looks good, but the red and orange flames leave me going ….really? I think there are more impressive and original designs that they could have chosen haha.

  3. It was very clear that Mclaren had good pace though Button couldn’t capitalize on that,but a mega lap from Hamilton.I think he can pull out a surprise tomorrow & also watch out for Alonso.

  4. I still think that the grid positions have a lot more to do with the cool weather conditions rather than true pace.

    The two drivers that have been hardest on their tyres so far this season are first and second while the drivers (and car) that are the kindest to their tyres are 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

    1. Evidence? I seem to recall from China that Hamilton was quite conservative with his tires, even more so than his apparently “super smooth” teammate. The whole thing about Vettel and Button being incredibly soft on their tires to the point that it truly affects the racing is a ridiculous simplification of a complicated matter concocted by the media so that they can have a storyline with which to run or something for the commentators to say. All of the top drivers are top drivers for a reason, and all can conserve the tires pretty much equally well.

      1. If you’re looking for concrete evidence from a team, or the media, I don’t know if anything exists. What I base my comment on is every race, practice and qualifying session since the first race of the year (and every other year that I haven’t missed a race). I started the comment with ‘I still think’ which implies the comment is my opinion but I’m glad you have so much evidence to feel confident enough to refute it.

    2. You might well be right there.

  5. CarsVsChildren
    24th July 2011, 2:34

    Does anyone know which tyre manufacturer it was, just so I can make sure I NEVER purchase their products in the future.

    1. If it was Bridgestone, it’s a case of the black hole calling the kettle black :D

    2. I heard in the commentary for one of the practice sessions that it was an Italian company…

      1. No Alex, they said it was done in an advertising campaign in Italy. But DC mentioned something about a Finnish manufacturer. So its Nokian then?

  6. Alonso wins the race if it is dry. McLaren will win a wet race, maybe 1-2.

    1. I’m a Ferrari fan but I don’t care who leads. just not Vettel and it would be much better there are at least 3 guys ahead of him!

      1. Well said, I feel much the same. If Vettel then wins it after having a great fight for it, sad for the WDC, but I can live with it, but I really would like to see any of the three others do it.

      2. I mean, all the power to RedBull and Vettel for putting together a car superior to everything else on the grid, and having a driver capable of harnessing that. But seriously, this is making for one dull championship battle! A few races without Vettel scoring points will do great things for the championship race and keeping it exciting for a long as possible.

        PS: Go LEWIS!

  7. COTD! Congraturations PM!

    1. Agree with PM. It would be such a shame to see Pirelli start making tyres like Bridgestone did. I hope they aren’t always going to be like this.

      It was pretty funny actually because BBC ran a tribute to Pirelli and then we get told they’ve chickened out. Shame.

      1. BBC : Thank you Pirelli!
        Pirelli : You don’t have to say it because you won’t like what I’d like to do!

      2. The same here. Well written PM.

        Pirelli, we fully understand you are making them last only part of the race to get a better fan experience from the races. Good job.

        1. It’s sad that Pirelli get criticised for doing what’ they’ve been asked to do.

  8. I have to say i agree with the COTD. There has been far more conservative tyre choice since the opening races where the tyre wear was very high and now they are making the compounds more durable.

    A worrying trend given that everyone in the sport, press, and fans have been attributing the racing this year to Pirellis aggressive tyre compounds.

    This new theory, as someone who can not stand the DRS system is becoming slightly annoying.

  9. Congrats PM and I completely agree with your COTD. Pirelli have done wonders for F1 I feel and for them to abck down just because they’re getting a bit of stick will be a real shame.

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