[f1mad]

(Original post by El Torres)
It's not far superior in any sense. The McLarens had very good 1st sector times during qualifying. Mistakes were made by other drivers and as good as the McLarens are, in about 2 races, i expect the RBRs to be just as good in qualifying. They already have the race pace.

These new tyres have really helped Button. Especially at this track, they resemble the Bridgestones that were around, very tough and good for a driver like Button. It's also why the primes were the best tyre at the race.

I want the McLarens to win everything but we'll just have to wait and see. the WO3's new F-Duct gave Schumacher some good qualifying pace (which is why it was built), so i bet they'll be fighting there, the race is a different thing for them.

McLaren were strong in sector 1 in quali, not just there but also sector 3. Both Merc's owned sector 2.

If Australia is anything to go by: not really. In sector one alone: Vettel was: 0.252 down- this is not where he made the mistake either. He was a further 3 tenths down behind the quickest McLaren- the last sector which is the most technical and where most time is made up. As we saw last year, RBR made up a big ground in this sector. The roles are now reversed.

Errr no. These tyres are nothing like the Bridgestones. On the Bridgestones you could go a whole race by only stopping once. Hamilton over-drives the tyres and consquently ruins them, whereas Buttons smooth driving style allows him to do the opposite effect. The tyres suit him well but they're nothing like the Bridgestones. Primes were the best tyre because of the fact the options were degrading a lot quicker; Paul Hembrey has already said that the top teams were struggling with degredation the most.

If you watched the race, you would've saw how quickly JB was pulling away from Vettel, even after the SC restart.

[El Torres]

(Original post by f1mad)
McLaren were strong in sector 1 in quali, not just there but also sector 3. Both Merc's owned sector 2.

If Australia is anything to go by: not really. In sector one alone: Vettel was: 0.252 down- this is not where he made the mistake either. He was a further 3 tenths down behind the quickest McLaren- the last sector which is the most technical and where most time is made up. As we saw last year, RBR made up a big ground in this sector. The roles are now reversed.

Errr no. These tyres are nothing like the Bridgestones. On the Bridgestones you could go a whole race by only stopping once. Hamilton over-drives the tyres and consquently ruins them, whereas Buttons smooth driving style allows him to do the opposite effect. The tyres suit him well but they're nothing like the Bridgestones. Primes were the best tyre because of the fact the options were degrading a lot quicker; Paul Hembrey has already said that the top teams were struggling with degredation the most.

If you watched the race, you would've saw how quickly JB was pulling away from Vettel, even after the SC restart.

JB pulling away from Vettel after the SC cannot be judged purely on the McLarens having better pace, Button handles his tyres better, he seemed to slow down in the middle of the race and my guess is he saved some fuel there and was able to keep the engine at a higher mode at the end of the race for longer because he had more fuel. That's just two things. We have no idea what Vettel was on. I would say the McLarens are better at the moment but not by much.

The Tyres are like the Bridgestones, everyone expected them to degrade more, and with the way Button drives, he can carry on driving quickly and still not let his tyres shred as much. Massa ruined his tyes early on and that was the catalyst to ruining his race. Alonso did will with the the primes but also wasn't so good on options. Button is perfect for these compounds strengths. I don't think there is anyone else of the grid that can hold onto them as well as he can.

[f1mad]

(Original post by El Torres)
JB pulling away from Vettel after the SC cannot be judged purely on the McLarens having better pace, Button handles his tyres better, he seemed to slow down in the middle of the race and my guess is he saved some fuel there and was able to keep the engine at a higher mode at the end of the race for longer because he had more fuel. That's just two things. We have no idea what Vettel was on. I would say the McLarens are better at the moment but not by much.

The Tyres are like the Bridgestones, everyone expected them to degrade more, and with the way Button drives, he can carry on driving quickly and still not let his tyres shred as much. Massa ruined his tyes early on and that was the catalyst to ruining his race. Alonso did will with the the primes but also wasn't so good on options. Button is perfect for these compounds strengths. I don't think there is anyone else of the grid that can hold onto them as well as he can.

First and foremost. These tyres are nowhere near like the Bridgestones. Why do you keep thinking this? These tyres degrade much more than the Bridgestones ever did. As I already said: you could go the whole race on Bridgetones pushing as hard as possible, this is nowhere near possible anymore with the Pirelli's which have been designed to provide degredation not durability.

Button was most likely saving fuel; he was under-fueled due to mis-calculations. Also RB should usually be quicker at the start of the race due to the nature of the engine: it isn't as oil thirsty as the Merc engine.

McLaren are much better than you think, Aus GP won't show it by much. They're fast in all departments even on the straights. There's talk of the front wing flexing backwards providing efficient straight line speed. Which would explain why they were right up there in speed traps in quali.

[El Torres]

(Original post by f1mad)
First and foremost. These tyres are nowhere near like the Bridgestones. Why do you keep thinking this? These tyres degrade much more than the Bridgestones ever did. As I already said: you could go the whole race on Bridgetones pushing as hard as possible, this is nowhere near possible anymore with the Pirelli's which have been designed to provide degredation not durability.

The Pirellis degrade a lot more than the bridgestones, yes. But this season, where they changed the tyre compounds, they wanted to make them degrade a lot more where as they are not. I expect Pirelli to change that at the some point during the season. I'm not the only one comparing them to the bridgestones, if you were watching it was something Brundle pointed out too.

I'm not talking about a straight Bridgestone vs Pirelli comparison because it is exactly how you said but a few people mentioned how the tyres on Sunday were akin to the Bridgestones of old.

[f1mad]

(Original post by El Torres)
The Pirellis degrade a lot more than the bridgestones, yes. But this season, where they changed the tyre compounds, they wanted to make them degrade a lot more where as they are not. I expect Pirelli to change that at the some point during the season. I'm not the only one comparing them to the bridgestones, if you were watching it was something Brundle pointed out too.

I'm not talking about a straight Bridgestone vs Pirelli comparison because it is exactly how you said but a few people mentioned how the tyres on Sunday were akin to the Bridgestones of old.

Lol you're arguing for a lost cause.

The Pirelli's are nothing like the old Bridgestones. Degredation was high, not sure where you got that from. It'll become even more obvious in Sepang.

[HEY_101]

WOO! vettel !

[James A]

(Original post by f1mad)
Lol you're arguing for a lost cause.

The Pirelli's are nothing like the old Bridgestones. Degredation was high, not sure where you got that from. It'll become even more obvious in Sepang.

lol don't listen to that guy, he doesn't know his technical jargon....

Even people who don't follow f1 as heavily as we do know that the Pirelli's are nothing like the old bridgestones for durability!

[~ Purple Rose ~]

Great start to the season, not convinced about the new BBC line-up though

[El Torres]

(Original post by f1mad)
Lol you're arguing for a lost cause.

The Pirelli's are nothing like the old Bridgestones. Degredation was high, not sure where you got that from. It'll become even more obvious in Sepang.

Unless you can't read i just told you where i got it from. Sky. I also said i was talking about this season in particular, in fact only this race in particular, but if you think i was comparing all Pirelli compounds with that of the Bridgestones then good luck to you.

[jelly1000]

(Original post by ~ Purple Rose ~)
Great start to the season, not convinced about the new BBC line-up though

Ben and Gary are the only newbies to the TV team, did you not like either of them?

[f1mad]

(Original post by El Torres)
Unless you can't read i just told you where i got it from. Sky. I also said i was talking about this season in particular, in fact only this race in particular, but if you think i was comparing all Pirelli compounds with that of the Bridgestones then good luck to you.

I stopped reading when you mentioned "Sky" .

[mikeyd85]

(Original post by El Torres)
JB pulling away from Vettel after the SC cannot be judged purely on the McLarens having better pace, Button handles his tyres better, he seemed to slow down in the middle of the race and my guess is he saved some fuel there and was able to keep the engine at a higher mode at the end of the race for longer because he had more fuel. That's just two things. We have no idea what Vettel was on. I would say the McLarens are better at the moment but not by much.

During the safety car period, Vettel was told to "use all the fuel". If that's not a fair indication of being able to use a high mix, I don't know what is.

[~ Purple Rose ~]

(Original post by jelly1000)
Ben and Gary are the only newbies to the TV team, did you not like either of them?

I don't know if they will just take a while to get used to, but I wasn't very impressed

I found myself missing Martin, and I'm not even a huge fan of his

[jelly1000]

(Original post by ~ Purple Rose ~)
I don't know if they will just take a while to get used to, but I wasn't very impressed

I found myself missing Martin, and I'm not even a huge fan of his

I love Martin, but I thought Ben was great as well (I watched both shows). Gary Anderson isn't quite as a good as Ted Kravitz, and I find I have to listen very carefully to be able to understand him plus sometimes it sounds like his voice is muffled.