Canadian Grand Prix (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) - 07/29/2012

If Lewis Hamilton doesn't take the win tomorrow, I'm gonna lose it. He’s been absolutely crushing everyone lately.

The only way he loses is if Romain Grosjean pulls some kind of magic trick right at the start.😁

Sebastian Vettel 🤦, once again 🙂

He certainly deserved better than this result, though perhaps a third-place finish provides some small measure of consolation? One has to wonder if Adrian Newey has hit a bit of a slump; where exactly has that legendary creative spark gone—the kind that used to produce a car so dominant it sat a full 1.5 seconds ahead of the field? 🤷

Is it simply that the FIA has tightened the reins to prevent Red Bull from employing their usual "dirty tricks," or have the other designers finally grown up and learned how to go toe-to-toe with a genius like Newey?

Brian Campbell36 said:Ferrari is a total disaster; it doesn't get any worse than this! 🤷

What kind of strategy is a single fast lap when all the other podium contenders are pulling two flying laps? These Italians just never seem to learn.

It’s a good thing rain is forecast for tomorrow; maybe they can mask their lack of pace in those conditions.

Based on everything we saw, Lewis Hamilton absolutely earned the win, but with rain coming tomorrow, anything can happen—as Neven Cvijanović, a rather decent commentator, mentioned earlier.

I'm looking at the timing, and with two minutes left, they still haven't released their drivers while everyone else is cranking out fast times. I highly doubt they're actually saving tires, especially with rain in the forecast...

Tyler Richardson4 said:These commentators are an absolute train wreck.

Honestly, this is even worse than local network coverage.🤦

David Anderson72 said:But honestly, this is actually performing even worse than local public broadcasting 🤦

And what about the Mercedes-Benz cars? In my view, they are falling behind the other "big players" by much more than their famous 0.5 second gap.🙂

David Anderson72 said:I’m watching the gap closely. There are only two minutes left and they still haven't released the drivers, yet the crew is already flying through those fast laps. I don't buy the tire-saving excuse, especially with rain in the forecast...

It seems Ferrari thought they could play games with McLaren and Sebastian Vettel, but they couldn't even touch him in that single fast lap. Then you have Lotus, who are clearly thriving in this track heat.

A smart move, if you ask me.

Jason Campbell70 said:It is patently obvious that Ferrari believed they couldn't close the gap to McLaren and Sebastian Vettel in a single flying lap. Furthermore, we have to consider the Lotus cars, which clearly benefit from these higher track temperatures.

A wise decision, if you ask me.

So, what we are actually saying here is that the Red Bull and McLaren cars are significantly more competitive than the Ferrari. 😕

The only thing that matters to Žalons is that Mark stays ahead of him 🤣

Alright, alright Žalonsic, that’s gotta sting

Emily Patel64 said:The only thing that matters to Žalons is that Mark stays behind 🤣

That setup is underwhelming because Mark specifically tuned it for wet conditions; if Fernando Alonso ends up in the gravel tomorrow, wouldn't the championship suddenly become interesting again?

Brian Campbell36 said:Look, Mark put this wet-weather setup together, which explains why it’s struggling—if Alonso ends up sliding into the gravel tomorrow, this championship suddenly gets a whole lot more interesting.

😁

Everyone's just praying for rain now... especially after those qualifying results. 😁

Brian Campbell36 said:So, basically, Red Bull and McLaren have much more competitive cars than Ferrari? 😕

For a single dry qualifying lap? Yes.

Does anyone happen to know how much time it usually takes to switch from a dry setup over to a wet one? Kimi looked incredibly sharp during Q1 and Q2, and his pace in the free practice sessions was solid too, but he just didn't seem to find that extra gear we were all expecting in Q3. He shaved off about two-tenths, which isn't nothing, but if he managed that on mediums during Q2, then switching to softs didn't really yield the kind of improvement you'd want to see. I’m really hoping they made the call to pivot to a rain setup, but I’m a little worried there might not be enough time to pull that off between Q2 and Q3.

Giancarlo Grožan is going to have Hemoš's back. ☕

Jason Campbell70 said:It’s clear Ferrari thought they couldn't catch McLaren or Vettel in a single qualifying lap. Plus, you have Lotus, who actually benefit from the track temperature being this high.

A wise move, if you ask me.

Wise in what way? If it stays dry, sure, they save tires. But they aren't fast enough for that to even matter much.
If it rains, those tires are useless anyway.
In reality, rain is the only thing that might help the Scuderia. If the race stays dry, they'll be lucky to see a podium. We all know the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a tight circuit where overtaking is nearly impossible; you get one shot at Turn 1 and that's about it.

David Anderson72 said:Smart in what way? If it stays dry, fine—they save tires. But they aren't fast enough for that to even matter much.
If it rains, those tires are useless anyway.

Unsure if rain is coming tomorrow, but I am certain we'll need the softs.
At least one set.

So why waste them today?

Jason Campbell70 said:I’m not certain if we’ll see rain tomorrow, but I am certain those soft tires will be necessary.
At least one set.

And why waste them today for no reason?

It would be smarter to focus on securing a solid starting position, given how much weight qualifying carries here. 🤷