F1 2011

[Vermilion]

Was good to hear Webber..while in the after race pc, say he was glad Lewis had put a stop to Red Bulls..but more importantly Vettels domination or words to that effect.

He qualified it by saying, although it's his team and it's a shame they did'nt win in a way, it's better for him that Hamilton won, an honest up front statement, so nice one, and of course he's right, it's not just better for him it's better for every single one of us, except Vettel.

[paulg]

Webber, Hamilton and Button are very talented drivers. Vettel seems quick but chucks his toys of his pram when things aren't perfect.

Great to see some of the other teams' drivers showing their potential too. Schumi seems to be enjoying himself, now.

[Buzzo]

Vettel leading Webber. I'd love to see Webber win this one. He deserves it for his performances so far this season.

[Buzzo]

...Or Button, for me Webber and Button are the two most exciting drivers to watch. Aggressive and capable of getting a result from further back in the field.

[Daniel 7]

Been a great race so far... Although the coverage from the Turks is disgraceful. How many times have they cut away from a passing possibility to show a leader or go to the pits? Ridiculous.

The Pirellis have really added to the spectacle though.

Another great thing is seeing how clueless Shumacher is in the midfield. He doesn't know when to yield at all. His title wins seem to have had a fair share of circumstance, opportunism, cheating and his car. Not saying he's not a great driver, he's just not as good as the other greats like Senna, Prost, Clark or Stewart.

[Buzzo]

No idea why Schumacher made a come back, all he has done is tarnish his status. He fancied himself this season as well didn't he.

I'd love to see Vettel under a bit more pressure in a race, he seems to win form poll in almost every race.

[Buzzo]

Other than Vettel winning it is quite hard to work out who is where in this race with all the pit stops...

[Daniel 7]

Re Schumacher, yeah..

I had Schumacher down to four or five titles if Senna had been about. 94 and 95 for Senna in the Williams, Senna with 96 and 97 (no way would Hill and Villenueve have had those titles), 98 and 99 was McLaren miles ahead, then with Ferrari dominating until Alonso won in 2005.

In all the biogs I 've read on Senna, he wanted to finish his career at Ferrari, so who's to say he wouldn't have won a couple more for them in the early part of the century?

Schumacher took advantage of that.

[Daniel 7]

Great race - Vettel in a car with no upgrades walking it really. He's brilliant out front and th best qualifier in F1 since Schumacher was at his peak. Still think he's great out front, its just a pity there's been very little pressure on him, because I think he's fragile away from P1.

Sack that ****ing turkish race director. Missed passes and then the final shot was so high in the sky, you couldn't make out who was coming over the line because the sun reflected off the cars so you couldn't make out the livery. What a plum.

[Buzzo]

Exciting race. Agree totally on Vettel. I don't like him though, haven't since he fell out with Webber last year. He is a punishing driver from the front, it would be good for F1 if he had a bad qualifying and had to start further down the grid.

The coverage was, as you say, bizarre.

Button had a mare. Strategy let him down hugely. I think he is such an exciting driver, but just seems to be slightly off the pace most races, making silly mistakes.

[Buzzo]

Re Schumacher, yeah..

I had Schumacher down to four or five titles if Senna had been about. 94 and 95 for Senna in the Williams, Senna with 96 and 97 (no way would Hill and Villenueve have had those titles), 98 and 99 was McLaren miles ahead, then with Ferrari dominating until Alonso won in 2005.

In all the biogs I 've read on Senna, he wanted to finish his career at Ferrari, so who's to say he wouldn't have won a couple more for them in the early part of the century?

Schumacher took advantage of that.

Funnily enough Schumacher has come out with this...

Michael Schumacher admits he is not enjoying racing


Michael Schumacher has admitted for the first time that he is not enjoying racing following a disappointing start to the second season of his comeback.

The 42-year-old Mercedes driver finished 12th in the Turkish Grand Prix after another poor weekend.

Schumacher told BBC Sport: "The big joy is not there right now."

He won a record seven titles and 91 grands prix before retiring in 2006, but has been bettered by Nico Rosberg in 15 of their 23 races as team-mates.

Rosberg, 25, has also out-qualified his fellow German on 19 occasions.

Schumacher admits to joyless F1 experience
Rosberg qualified third in Turkey, more than a second faster than Schumacher, who was eighth on the grid.

Schumacher was not helped by an opening-lap collision with Renault's Vitaly Petrov, for which he admitted he was at fault. The incident forced him into the pits for a new front wing.

Schumacher made three further stops for fresh tyres but never looked capable of getting close to the front runners.

The result - allied to a retirement in Australia, a ninth-place finish in Malaysia and eighth in China - means he sits 11th in the drivers' championship with just six points.

Rosberg finds himself 10th on 20 points, while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel lead the way on 93 points following his victory in Turkey.

"I told you before the race there was going to be some action and indeed I had lots of action," said Schumacher.

"I guess I was responsible myself to have the result that I had. With Petrov I guess it was mostly my mistake what happened there.

"I need to analyse it. It was a bit strange that suddenly we got together and I lost my front wing. The race was a given from there - lots of fighting, lots of action, but for nothing.

"From where we came [on the grid], going forward is better than still having to defend backwards, and mostly I was able to go forward."

I've known Schumacher for a long time, and he looked and sounded like a man beginning, as Coulthard said, 'to ask himself some questions'
Read more here
Schumacher signed a three-year contract with Mercedes when he returned to F1 last year, but BBC F1 chief analyst Eddie Jordan said it might be time for him to consider his future.

"I felt just a glimmer of sadness that here's a legendary person who has been magnificent in all the years that he's raced, winning seven world championships," Jordan said.

"He's very human, he's very, very honest - he's clearly not enjoying it and the results are showing why he's not enjoying it. He has a couple of big decisions to make in the next couple of months."

But BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"He's not performing at the same level of his team-mate, that's a fact," said the former Williams, McLaren and Red Bull driver, who raced against Schumacher for 12 years.

"The statistics show Nico Rosberg is getting more out of that car than Michael Schumacher.

"I don't think we should write Michael off by any stretch of the imagination - there's a lot of talent there - but he must be asking himself questions.

"I think the key thing is he's not enjoying it and to be perfectly open and honest with you there was an element of that for me at the beginning of 2008.

"I wasn't as competitive as I felt I should be, I wasn't enjoying the races as much as I used to and then that's the moment.

"It slowly builds until you look in the mirror and realise that feeling you've been having for a few weeks or months is the internal message. You can't hold back the clock."

Link

[Tee]

Really enjoyed the GP yesterday - Vettel is just driving so well right now and I just cannot see past him (or Red Bull) for the Championship.

Don't understand why Lewis had to be so aggressive at the start, really cost him IMO.

[Baracus]

If Vettel was not in the race yesterday. It would have been a classic. Cars overtaking each other repeatedly in all positions, pit lane chaos. Great stuff

[Daniel 7]

Really enjoyed the GP yesterday - Vettel is just driving so well right now and I just cannot see past him (or Red Bull) for the Championship.

Don't understand why Lewis had to be so aggressive at the start, really cost him IMO.

He's got previous of that. He has had the red mist at the start in quite a few, hasn't he? Thought he'd put that away after last season, can't remember him doing it.

[Buzzo]

Mark Webber on pole tomorrow