****** FORMULA 1 THREAD ******

[chungster]

Guess Massa didn't learn from yesterday in avoiding those orange baguette aka kerbs!

[Greeners]

Clearly the stewards had some more information on the Massa/Hamilton incident. Looked all day to me like he opened the door, late braked then turned in!! 

[QD MBE]

SV #1 

[RobH]

Well another dull and boring predictable race i do hope its more competitive next season or F1 will suffer hugely especially as youll have to pay to watch it. I guess just ban adrian newey for been to good, that would be one way to do it. Now lets all feed sebastians ego and tell him how hes the best driver F1 has ever seen while the main man sneeks off and designs another amazing car.

Nice and premedated from Massa aswell.

[andrewparker]

Likewise, I thought it was dull as ditch water, went out for a walk half way through. A shame really because yet again I thought it was great programming by the BBC and it really gave a great feel for the location of the race.

[RedRobin]

.
I agree with Greenstuff about the Massa vs Hamilton incident. The stewards got it right in my opinion.

I also agree with QD about the factors why SV is a winner. It's further backed up by the fact that SV consistently beats his team mate MW.

Plus I agree with Andrew: Excellent TV coverage and Incredible India !! The circuit promised so much but this time the racing was dull - No-one's fault, it's how the cookie crumbles.

Regardless of final finishing positions it wasn't an exciting race. I thought the off circuit tv was far more entertaining, especially those Indian dancing babes in Dehli  . Loved Eddie's traditional shirt - It really suited him and he looked a bit like John Lennon. Seb Vettel was brilliant on the Red Button aftershow with Lee McKenzie when offering everybody her phone number - Great banter all round. Schumi is so wooden and Prussian compared with Seb who is much more typically Bavarian and fun.

It annoyed me that Schumi didn't remove his hat during the pre-race minute of silence in tribute. Why didn't someone nudge him - I would have done!

[alex_chung]

.
I agree with Greenstuff about the Massa vs Hamilton incident. The stewards got it right in my opinion.

I also agree with QD about the factors why SV is a winner. It's further backed up by the fact that SV consistently beats his team mate MW.

Plus I agree with Andrew: Excellent TV coverage and Incredible India !! The circuit promised so much but this time the racing was dull - No-one's fault, it's how the cookie crumbles.

Regardless of final finishing positions it wasn't an exciting race. I thought the off circuit tv was far more entertaining, especially those Indian dancing babes in Dehli  . Loved Eddie's traditional shirt - It really suited him and he looked a bit like John Lennon. Seb Vettel was brilliant on the Red Button aftershow with Lee McKenzie when offering everybody her phone number - Great banter all round. Schumi is so wooden and Prussian compared with Seb who is much more typically Bavarian and fun.

It annoyed me that Schumi didn't remove his hat during the pre-race minute of silence in tribute. Why didn't someone nudge him - I would have done!

Agreed on all points! The track does look awesome but the race was pretty dull (the only exciting thing was when my freeview box conked out at lap 40!) but all the pre race build up and little segments about India were really well done. The forum has been pretty good over the last few races and love how Vettel flirts with Lee McKenzie at every interview but I would be happy to have her phone number :-)
I think it was mentioned before by Brundle that Schumi is not as open as Vettel due to some event when he was younger that made him more of a closed person but that is life, people are different.
Alex

[RedRobin]

Agreed on all points! The track does look awesome but the race was pretty dull (the only exciting thing was when my freeview box conked out at lap 40!) but all the pre race build up and little segments about India were really well done. The forum has been pretty good over the last few races and love how Vettel flirts with Lee McKenzie at every interview but I would be happy to have her phone number :-)

I think it was mentioned before by Brundle that Schumi is not as open as Vettel due to some event when he was younger that made him more of a closed person but that is life, people are different.
Alex

....I think that Lee McKenzie encourages flirting - She always has that sparkle in her eyes in the way she looks at drivers when interviewing. And a subtle smile. Perhaps she doesn't realise <-- Like heck! "Ooops! My loose soft sweater has slipped off my shoulder, exposing my shoulder and sexy line of my....".

The eyes and the smile definitely have what it takes:







Personally, I find it too hard work making the effort to get on with people who are closed, whether they can help it or not. That's why I don't like typically British reserve. We are certainly all different 

[Hedge]

It's the voice as well Robin, like having warm honey poured on your wedding vegetables. 

[rich83]

It's the voice as well Robin, like having warm honey poured on your wedding vegetables. 

    

[Top Cat]

It's the voice as well Robin, like having warm honey poured on your wedding vegetables. 

My Veg is hairy, the aftermath and clean up would outweigh the fun. 

[vRS Carl]

That's what Veet for men was invented for TC

Use mint source showergel after that and it feels great   

[Janner_Sy]

Whitmarsh on hamiltons crashing

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is pinning some of the blame for Lewis Hamilton's string of clashes with Felipe Massa on Jenson Button's form.

Hamilton and Massa collided again during Sunday's Indian Grand Prix as Button finished second behind winner Sebastian Vettel.

"Lewis, the great, exciting driver that he is, will not like being beaten by Jenson," said Whitmarsh.

"For any driver, the first driver you want to beat is your team-mate."

Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, came home seventh in India after his chances of a podium finish were ruined by a crash while trying to pass Massa on lap 24.

Massa was adjudged to be in the wrong, receiving a drive-through penalty before retiring later in the race after hitting a kerb and damaging the front suspension on his Ferrari.

Button, meanwhile, finished second behind world champion Vettel to consolidate his second place in the championship, 38 points ahead of fellow Briton Hamilton, who is fifth behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Button, the 2009 world champion, has recorded three wins and been on the podium 10 times this season.

Hamilton has scored two victories of his own but also picked up six penalties, including a three-place grid drop in India for ignoring caution flags.

McLaren team principal Whitmarsh added: "Lewis will be feeling under pressure because of the great performances from Jenson at the moment.

"I don't want him to enjoy being beaten by his team-mate. I want him to try to beat Jenson, just as I want Jenson to try to beat Lewis."

Whitmarsh added that he felt Massa was also struggling to come to terms with the dominant form of Ferrari team-mate Alonso.


A bad year for Lewis - Anthony Hamilton
"Felipe is under enormous pressure within that team and that causes him to react," he said.

Hamilton, who recently split with long-time girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, has suffered a number of disappointments this season.

Asked whether he felt Hamilton had been too hard on himself, Whitmarsh replied: "Yes, I do frankly. I have told him on several occasions, 'Don't apologise, you're a racing driver. If you've made a mistake, accept it, learn from it and move on'.

"He is very analytical. He's very serious about trying to do the best job he can.

"He's much too hard on himself but I've known Lewis for a long, long time and he has always been like that since he was in karts. That's his way, that's his psychology and that's how he motivates himself.

"His body language this weekend has been much more positive than for the last races.

"He has all the skills. We saw him qualify and race fantastically at the last race [in Korea, where he finished second] and qualify fantastically here. It can change."

The latest clash between Hamilton and Massa came on lap 24 of the race at the Buddh International Circuit.

The two touched as Hamilton dived down the inside of his Brazilian rival at Turn Five.

The nose of Hamilton's car was damaged in the incident, forcing him to pit, but Massa managed to continue.

The pair had previously banged wheels in Monaco and Singapore, resulting in a drive-through penalty for the McLaren star on each occasion.

Hamilton, who pipped Massa to the world title in 2008, has admitted the relationship between the two drivers is not good - but Whitmarsh rejected suggestions he and Ferrari should organise a meeting to clear the air.

"They're men, they've got to figure it out for themselves," said the McLaren chief, who said he had spoken to Ferrari about the pair.

And massa on Hamilton

Felipe Massa says he is not going to do any more to heal his rift with Lewis Hamilton after their latest clash at the Indian Grand Prix.

McLaren's Hamilton, already punished for two previous incidents between them, collided with Massa's Ferrari but it was the Brazilian who was penalised.

When asked what he could do to end the feud, Massa said: "Nothing from me."

Hamilton added: "He hasn't spoken to me in a long, long time. I made an effort and said good luck for the race."

Massa confirmed that the British driver had spoken to him on the grid after all 24 drivers observed a minute's silence in India to mark the deaths of Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli.

But Massa, who lost the 2008 world title to Hamilton, said the Briton's comments were not a form of apology.

"Here after the one-minute silence he was [at] my side and he just said 'have a good race'," Massa explained.

"So this is trying to what? 'Have a good race' is not part of talking or whatever."

Hamilton and Massa have clashed in a number of incidents this season, most notably in Monaco and Singapore, where Hamilton was blamed by officials and received drive-through penalties.

After the Singapore GP, the pair had an altercation in the media zone when Massa attempted to speak to Hamilton and he responded: "Don't touch me, man."

Referring to the post-race incident in Singapore, Massa said: "When I felt it was already too much what he was doing, he didn't want to speak to me."

But he added: "I don't have anything against him - nothing, zero."

Massa was clearly frustrated with the decision to penalise him, rather than Hamilton, for their coming together in India as they battled for fifth place.

Hamilton dived down the inside of Massa at the fast Turn Five but after the pair made contact the stewards ruled that the Brazilian had made a move instead of leaving room for Hamilton to pass.

But Massa argued: "My view is that I braked later than him, I was in front, I was on the grippy area and then I started to turn and I don't see him on my left.

"He is behind and then he touched my rear wheel. To be honest, I don't understand why I have the penalty."

When pressed for further explanation, Massa said: "I didn't do anything wrong. When I see he put the car on my side, I braked on the clean side and he was behind me. If he was wheel-to-wheel I would not try to close the door."

In discussing the stewards' reasoning, Massa commented: "They were not so sure as well."

Hamilton had signalled his view of the incident immediately on the pit-to-car radio, saying: "Felipe just turned in on me. He didn't give me any space."

He added after the race: "I tried to overtake, I tried to come out of it because he didn't look like he was going to give me any space, but we collided."

And his overall verdict on his weekend was succinct. "Disappointed would be an understatement," he said.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh agreed Hamilton's race was "disappointing".

Whitmarsh said: "He and Felipe Massa are magnetic, they come together, but the stewards made a clear decision. It hurt Lewis - he had to come in and change tyres, his car was damaged but he had the discipline to bring it home for some points.

"Massa turned in and Lewis didn't have a chance. I'm sure others will feel differently. Lewis had a three-place penalty, I think he can do a better job than he is at the moment.

"He has two races left to demonstrate that he is a great racing driver."[

HAMILTON V MASSA IN 2011
May 2011 - The pair bang wheels at the hairpin during the Monaco GP with Hamilton picking up a drive-through penalty
September 2011 - In qualifying for the Singapore GP, the duo nearly collide as they try to find clear air for their flying laps
September 2011 - In the race, Hamilton turns into Massa. The Brazilian suffers a puncture while Hamilton is handed a drive-through penalty
October 2011 - The two drivers have a minor brush at Suzuka with Hamilton accepting responsibility. The stewards take no action.
October 2011 - They are involved in a heavy collision in India, with Massa handed a drive-through penalty for turning in on Hamilton./quote]

[andrewparker]

Handbags. I'd like to bang their heads together and tell them to stop being so fu*king stupid. A daft feud between them to isn't making F1 any better.

[Poverty]

massa is a number 2 driver whose fading into the background.

This season will do L.H good in the long run. He will be strong next year. Id suggest button doesnt get to comfortable as the percieved number 1 driver, regardless of mclaren building a car more biased towards his driving style if you believe the reports