McLaren fastest as Vettel goes off in first practice

27 comments on “McLaren fastest as Vettel goes off in first practice”

1. 

   wasiF1 (@wasif1)
   7th October 2011, 3:39

   Is Vettel cracking under pressure? or is that just a mistake?
   1. 

      Lateralus (@lateralus)
      7th October 2011, 3:45

      Just a mistake. He can take the title basically at his leisure.
      1. 

         Maksutov (@maksutov)
         7th October 2011, 3:50

         yep, thats what i thought. Why would he be under pressure now. But im sure he is trying to do his best and find the limits…
         1. 

            Maksutov (@maksutov)
            7th October 2011, 3:52

            Come to think of it, it looks more like Hamilton may be slightly under pressure …
   2. 

      Becken Lima (@becken-lima)
      7th October 2011, 4:08

      What pressure? He is champion since Valencia. It was only a minor mistake and in Suzuka they usually tends to pay hard for mistakes.
      1. 

         vho (@)
         7th October 2011, 6:59

         That’s the problem – it’s only FP1 and he’s going all out and making a mistake that he doesn’t need to, he just needs to get quality data for his technicians and not cause too much grief by having to do repairs to the car before qualy. He was lucky to come off fairly unscathed, it could have been potentially worse and cause himself injury, like breaking a leg and not being able to drive for the rest of the season – he’ll then be praying in his bed that Jenson doesn’t win all the remaining races. And don’t say it couldn’t happen – just look at Schumi in 1999.
         1. 

            raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
            7th October 2011, 7:08

            Actually I disagree. Looking at his 2010 and 2011; it seems to be his usual routine. He always has an off; or sometimes a crash in FP1. That way; he knows where the limit is.
            1. 

               vho (@)
               7th October 2011, 18:02

               That’s what I’m pointing to – the fact that he has an off during FP1… he’s had a few this year. He could do better in finding the limit without crashing, cos all it takes is a bad crash and it could end his career. In this case he wasn’t trying to find the limit but in fact he was thinking about something else…

               Vettel said that the incident sharpened his focus on the race weekend rather than the championship.

               “I would say I had a good reminder this morning in the practice not to think about something else.”
   3. 

      raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
      7th October 2011, 4:40

      Canada; Turkey. Early days.
   4. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      7th October 2011, 6:23

      I guess its just trying out different things in FP1 to know where the limit is for Vettel, the fact he improved his time later in the session shows he was not on super fast mode earlier.
   5. 

      JCost (@jcost)
      7th October 2011, 8:45

      Pressure? What pressure?
   6. 

      Rib khalifa (@)
      7th October 2011, 8:47

      He’s not under any pressure.He’s just EXCITED.
2. 

   manatcna (@manatcna)
   7th October 2011, 3:49

   That was quick
3. 

   Dev (@dev)
   7th October 2011, 4:07

   looks like STR-Ferrari were running light.
   1. 

      91jb12 (@91jb12)
      7th October 2011, 6:01

      and Mclaren!
4. 

   Becken Lima (@becken-lima)
   7th October 2011, 4:11

   Keith – I think is very important to put the number of laps by driver in the chart.
   1. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      7th October 2011, 4:43

      I always do, just hadn’t got around to it yet.
5. 

   IDR (@idr)
   7th October 2011, 5:25

   Off topic: Great site changes Keith, congratulations!
   1. 

      Keamo
      7th October 2011, 9:10

      I like them too. Hated the old one!!
6. 

   Atticus (@atticus-2)
   7th October 2011, 6:03

   My guess is that a lot of influental people heard Crofty and Ant discussing the possibility of a tarmac runoff on the outside of the Degners. And I guess it’s going to be a tarmac runoff next year on if F1 stays in Suzuka.

   It’s kind of sad – as Petrov put it in the preview quotes now ‘if you get a wheel wrong and off-track, you won’t come back, you end up in the gravel trap’ – and I think he thought of the Degners and Spoon above all. It’s a challenge which could go.

   On the other hand it would be safer, and economical – you go off, and stop, no need for a new front wing.
7. 

   AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
   7th October 2011, 8:07

   I can sympathise with Vettel, Degner 2 is forever catching me out, on raging games albeit.

   Looks like we got a decent set of runs in this session so perhaps this could be more indicative than usual, or 2012 aero is getting its first outing ;)
   1. 

      vho (@)
      7th October 2011, 18:08

      Agree… Degner 1 seems to suck you in after you’ve spent a while coming out of Dunlop Curve… and as you get faster you feel you can get faster through Degner 1 and Degner 2 – a bit like the Spoon curve. But get Degner 1 right it gives you massive speed into Degner 2, get it wrong you end up in kitty litter.
8. 

   mattg21 (@mattg21)
   7th October 2011, 8:24

   Bring back more gravel traps!! It makes it more exiting for the fans and the drivers.

   In an ideal world I’d love to see gravel traps for qualifying and run-offs for the race :D. Somehow I see this as unlikely…

   By the way, this new forum layout etc is a great addition to F1Fanatic Keith.
9. 

   SlySlow
   7th October 2011, 9:30

   I missed FP1 but caught the start of FP2 on the red button – the BBC were on about there being something strange on Vettel’s front wing and that he didn’t seem to want his car lifted. Does anyone know anything about this?
   1. 

      PaulM (@pmelton)
      7th October 2011, 10:03

      I am not sure about that, but I found a great picture of the RB Floor.
      http://en.espnf1.com/japan/motorsport/story/60741.html
10. 

    Eggry (@eggry)
    7th October 2011, 9:59

    Vettel crashed. still fast.
11. 

    Fixy (@)
    7th October 2011, 14:50

    Might be early, but McLaren look very fast, as Red Bull.

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