Spanish Embassy (San Francisco-California) May 22, 2011

swiftjackal3 said:What on earth is going on with Ferrari? They’re lagging just one second behind Red Bull again! Did they actually bring something new, or does it feel like a massive step backward? Meanwhile, McLaren-Mercedes has improved so much they might actually be fighting for the win this Sunday. Alonso is starting fifth in qualifying again—his best hope is to overtake J. Button, and honestly, he’ll need some serious luck to pull that off. I mean, let’s be real: we can't expect anything groundbreaking from Ferrari at the Spanish Embassy. Massa might just settle for a top 10 finish on Sunday. If Ferrari couldn't close the gap to RD, the least they could have done was hold onto that lead over McLaren-Mercedes they had during the Turkish Embassy event. It feels like that whole performance from the Italians and Alonso was just a lucky flash in the pan. For the sake of the championship, wouldn't it be better if Hamilton started racking up wins instead of being stuck with just that single victory at the Chinese Embassy?

Let's just slow down a bit here; practice sessions are one thing, qualifying is a whole different beast, and then you've got the actual race which is something else entirely.
I definitely wouldn't write Ferrari off just yet, especially when it comes to how they handle themselves on race day.

swiftjackal3 said:What on earth is going on with Ferrari? They’re lagging just one second behind Red Bull again! Did they actually bring something new, or does it feel like a massive step backward? Meanwhile, McLaren-Mercedes has improved so much they might actually be fighting for the win this Sunday. Alonso is starting fifth in qualifying again—his best hope is to overtake J. Button, and honestly, he’ll need some serious luck to pull that off. I mean, let’s be real: we can't expect anything groundbreaking from Ferrari at the Spanish Embassy. Massa might just settle for a top 10 finish on Sunday. If Ferrari couldn't close the gap to RD, the least they could have done was hold onto that lead over McLaren-Mercedes they had during the Turkish Embassy event. It feels like that whole performance from the Italians and Alonso was just a lucky flash in the pan. For the sake of the championship, wouldn't it be better if Hamilton started racking up wins instead of being stuck with just that single victory at the Chinese Embassy?

First off, qualifying times will probably be around 1:19 - 1:20, so you can forget all that talk.🤣

stormybadger8 said:First off, qualifying times will probably be around 1:19 - 1:20, so you can forget all that talk.🤣

Honestly, I’ve already decided to skip all the practice sessions this year—it just feels like I'd be wasting my time watching them.
I honestly just don't have the energy for this constant cat-and-mouse game everyone keeps playing.
Honestly, I've got much better things to do with my time.😁

It’s pretty obvious who's calling the shots around here.☕

Man, I would just love to see Vettel pull off a win right in Alonso's backyard. Seeing that happen? It would be absolutely priceless.

Such a boring track... hopefully the bumps and the tire deg bring some actual excitement. I'm putting my money on chaos at Turn 1, maybe someone from Red Bull ends up with some busted aero 😬

Michael Lee4 said:Such a boring track... hopefully the bumps and the tire deg bring some actual excitement. I'm putting my money on chaos at Turn 1, maybe someone from Red Bull ends up with some busted aero 😬

Yeah, don't hold your breath.👎
With DRS being what it is, nobody even bothers trying to fight for position at the start anymore.👎

stormybadger8 said:Yeah, don't hold your breath.👎
With DRS being what it is, nobody even bothers trying to fight for position at the start anymore.👎

Autosport: "McLaren: Early laps key to beating Red Bull Racing."

The folks over at McLaren don't see it that way. Having a strategy and the guts to actually pull off an overtake—under the right circumstances, obviously—is great.
Red Bull is the fastest car on the grid, sure, but they've got openings. A move into Turn 1 at Circuit of the Americas would be a perfect starting point.

Amanda Kelly said:Autosport: "McLaren: Early laps key to beating Red Bull Racing."

The folks over at McLaren don't see it that way. Having a strategy and the guts to actually pull off an overtake—under the right circumstances, obviously—is great.
Red Bull is the fastest car on the grid, sure, but they've got openings. A move into Turn 1 at Circuit of the Americas would be a perfect starting point.

I doubt that's really a smart move for Michael Lee4 to have the McLarens getting caught up in a collision at Turn 1... though I suppose I feel the same way as ☕

Kimberly Davis61 said:I doubt that's really a smart move for Michael Lee4 to have the McLarens getting caught up in a collision at Turn 1... though I suppose I feel the same way as ☕

Who even mentioned a crash?

Amanda Kelly said:Who even mentioned a crash?

I suppose we're looking at some serious wing clipping in that first turn... 🤷

Kimberly Davis61 said:I suppose we're looking at some serious wing clipping in that first turn... 🤷

Maybe try actually reading the article?

Michael Lee4 said:Such a boring track... hopefully the bumps and the tire deg bring some actual excitement. I'm putting my money on chaos at Turn 1, maybe someone from Red Bull ends up with some busted aero 😬

Amanda Kelly said:Maybe try actually reading the article?

stormybadger8 was quoting this... so it's just a back-and-forth between them.

In this specific context, I'm assuming they mean an actual collision... rather than someone just skirting the edge of the rules...

You might want to read a bit more closely. 🙂

What is the FIA even doing to Ferrari now?
Before qualifying starts, they’re going to decide if the rear end of the Ferrari is actually legal!
It’s ridiculous. Remember when Hamilton went on record saying Red Bull’s front wing was flexing way too much? Nothing happened then!
It seems like Bernie and his crew are perfectly happy letting Red Bull run away with it, even though they clearly have the best aero package on the grid right now. But hey, I guess having an unfair advantage is just part of the deal, isn't it? For a sport this expensive and glamorous, it’s honestly a total disgrace!

swiftjackal3 said:What is the FIA even doing to Ferrari now?
Before qualifying starts, they’re going to decide if the rear end of the Ferrari is actually legal!
It’s ridiculous. Remember when Hamilton went on record saying Red Bull’s front wing was flexing way too much? Nothing happened then!
It seems like Bernie and his crew are perfectly happy letting Red Bull run away with it, even though they clearly have the best aero package on the grid right now. But hey, I guess having an unfair advantage is just part of the deal, isn't it? For a sport this expensive and glamorous, it’s honestly a total disgrace!

🤣🤣🤣

A Ferrari fan crying about FIA favoritism? Yeah, right. I'll believe it when I see it.🤣

The FIA has scrutinized Red Bull more than anyone else because McLaren keeps breathing down their necks. Regardless, their car and that front wing are 100% legal. Even after all those strict inspections, everything on that car stays perfectly within the rules.☕

If the rest of the teams can't find engineers as talented as Newey to pull off the same tricks, that's on them. Don't blame Red Bull or the FIA; blame your own lack of talent.☕

stormybadger8 said:🤣🤣🤣

A Ferrari fan crying about FIA favoritism? Yeah, right. I'll believe it when I see it.🤣

The FIA has scrutinized Red Bull more than anyone else because McLaren keeps breathing down their necks. Regardless, their car and that front wing are 100% legal. Even after all those strict inspections, everything on that car stays perfectly within the rules.☕

If the rest of the teams can't find engineers as talented as Newey to pull off the same tricks, that's on them. Don't blame Red Bull or the FIA; blame your own lack of talent.☕

☕

I'm watching the replay of the first practice session on ESPN right now, and they’re doing this whole "Front Wing Analysis" segment. Honestly? Looking at that Red Bull wing, it doesn't even look like it's just flexing... it looks freaking liquid!😂

gentlebear47 said:I'm watching the replay of the first practice session on ESPN right now, and they’re doing this whole "Front Wing Analysis" segment. Honestly? Looking at that Red Bull wing, it doesn't even look like it's just flexing... it looks freaking liquid!😂

That's it. Case closed. 🤣

You can't be flexible. But then again, who says you can't go with the flow? 😬🤣

This ridiculous issue 🤣🤣🤣

Anyone watching ESPN? 😂

They’re saying on ESPN that Charlie mentioned if one team shows up with a legal exhaust system and starts complaining, it might be easy enough to get everyone else disqualified. 🤣🤣

And from what I can tell, only Virgin and ABC have a legal exhaust setup for this race. 🤣

It’ll be a total joke if this actually happens:

1. Timo Glock
2. Jerome d'Ambrosio
3. Vitantonio Liuzzi
4. Narain Karthikeyan

DSQ - everyone else 🤣

Assuming any of those four even finish the race, that is. 😂

Just imagine the chaos that could actually happen 😁

Holy hell, it went up in flames 😲

There's still a chance they totally trashed those exhausts 🤣 gotta be because of that

🤣🤣🤣

This is exactly the kind of drama we live for. 🙏