That would be a great way to go out, if I were Rubens in that situation I'd take the title, then retire, for good.

Quote from Intermediate07 :

The Red Bull is clearly the fastest car in the field

I wouldn't say "clearly" until Webber can consistently outperform the Brawns as well. In the past few races, it's only been Vettel; and before that, Brawns were usually faster.

Quote from samjh :

I wouldn't say "clearly" until Webber can consistently outperform the Brawns as well. In the past few races, it's only been Vettel; and before that, Brawns were usually faster.

well he did set the fastest lap in the last race.

Quote from Mustafur :

well he did set the fastest lap in the last race.

But he was running a ridiculous strategy in what was more of a testing session for his team.

Quote from tristancliffe :

But the Redbull will go very quickly, especially as they got an extra test session with Webber at Suzuka (okay, a different track, but they played with settings and front wing configurations intended for Interlagos).

Not disagreeing by any means, but would like to know your thinking behind that statement.
Popular opinion seemed to be that the last two tracks didn't suit RBR and would favour the Brawns a wee bit more.
Still think Hammy will be the man to beat tho.

The Redbull is now, I think, quicker than the Brawns even when the track 'favours' the Brawn's strengths.

Hammy will be very quick in qualifying, using KERS on the drag up the hill to start the lap (similar to Monza in this regard), but not sure if the rest of the circuit will really suit his style or the car in terms of race pace.

I'd like to see Force India back up there again.

Fair enough, the RBR car has never really been weak at all this season and Brawn ain't the weekly world beaters they were early doors. Probably a pretty good contest, hope Reubens does the job.

Agree with Hammy being quick in quali, but the track doesn't really have too many quick corners (parabolica, degner 1, first part of spoon etc) which seem to hurt the McLaren in the race, maybe turn 4 at Interlagos?

A bit O/T but personally I think Interlagos has the best T1 (and into T2) of any circuit I've ever seen. I'm prepared to be educated on that front tho

what about t1 and t2 of Spa?

Quote from rich uk :

what about t1 and t2 of Spa?

Not in the same league imo. La Source is a fairly basic hairpin, nothing like the swooping cambered do-or-die turn in I would associate with a committed entry to the Sennas.

The only others whic are worthy of mention are Sainte Devote (well, it was before they moved the inside armco a few feet and put in a rather naff kerb instead) and the legendary Copse.

Quote from rich uk :

what about t1 and t2 of Spa?

Im assuming T2 you mean eau rouge? So in a formula 1 car no. Though in anything that it is not just flat out then I would say it is one of the best. Seeing and hearing the cars going light as they reach the top of eau rouge is awesome.

Quote from HVS5b :

Nothing like the swooping cambered do-or-die turn in I would associate with a committed entry to the Sennas.

Having never driven these corners, but for the action you get at the corners, I would agree the Senna esses (sp?) are some of the best, if not the best, corners in Formula 1.

Quote from mythdat :

To be fair, against the only vaguely valid yardstick - that being his teammate - Button's been doing pretty poorly recently

To be even fairer, he would probably be doing even more poorly if his team mate wasn't the one sorting out the set up for the car for most of the races.

Both Button and Barrichello are "confidence" drivers. Neither of them are at their best when they don't feel 100% confident in the car. To be fair, this is true of most drivers to some extent. However there are the odd few that seem able to ignore how crappy the car feels and just drive it to it's limits irrespective.

Quote from tristancliffe :

To be quite honest, regardless of the driver, I'd rather the honest but whiny radio transmissions over the super-slick, super-professional Hamilton-esque, characterless radio transmissions. But that's just me.

I wouldn't even categorise them as "whiney".

What everyone needs to remember is these guys are all ultra competitive and perfectionist in comparison with normal people. They complain out of frustration that their hard work and effort isn't being realised due to the equipment letting them down. That doesn't even get close to the picture a lot of people on this forum are trying to paint of them of being whiney. To me whiney is some moron that just wants everything given to them with out the need to try. F1 drivers are putting their lives on the line every race and under a lot of pressure, (both external and from themselves), to perform to the best of their ability. They're giving it their best every race, and they expect results from themselves more than anyone. If you don't believe their determination, (which is the complete opposite to whiney in my mind), ask youself why the likes of Nakajima gets in the car at all knowing full well he doesn't have a realistic hope in hell of winning. Don't doubt for a second that these guys are all Alpha male type personalities.

http://www.qwikcast.com/cgi-bi ... ast.cgi?zip=Interlagos,BR

Rainnnnn

I realy hope Barrichello would take his first win in Brasilia

Last year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y7pm0m0Q7k

Barichello is pretty much guaranteed not to win in Brazil, something will fail or blow up, it always does when he's leading in Brazil.

Quote from Gav190 :

Barichello is pretty much guaranteed not to win in Brazil, something will fail or blow up, it always does when he's leading in Brazil.

knowing his luck if he's winning when everyone else is dodging stray dogs he'll hit a stray elephant from the local zoo

Quote from gezmoor :

Don't doubt for a second that these guys are all Alpha male type personalities.

stop idolising them to such a silly degree
theyre doing something most everybody would consider fun and get paid rather a lot for it

also how many alpha males do you know who have the stature of a 12 year old?

Quote from BlueFlame :

Senna type driver is one that pushes and pushes, even when the car is shit, and still gets a good result.

Aka "driving the nuts off the car".
Usually the drivers that end up driving half a car by race end (vettel singapore anyone?).

Oh the epic Senna memories.

Quote :

stop idolising them to such a silly degree
theyre doing something most everybody would consider fun and get paid rather a lot for it

also how many alpha males do you know who have the stature of a 12 year old?

All of them, actually. One pre-requisite to being an alfa male is having the maturity (and hence the aggressivness) of a teenager. I show you proof in the person of tristancliffe.

And you should idolise them - they are not only FAST, they are consistent fast. Take "our" (lfs) best drivers, and then choose from those the ones that can deliver consistent laptimes for 2 hours while being beat up by a boxer.

Tristan should know how hard it is to drive consistently AND ultrafast. (however, driving consistently has the interesting effect of making you go fast).

I can do inconsistent and off the pace better than any (current) F1 driver.

I resent the teenager comment . It's not me being an alpha male, just other people being daft(er). See G25 pedal spiking thread

Latest weather forecast for Sao Paulo:

Saturday Qualifying = Chance of thunderstorm (rain 20-40%)

Sunday Race = Chance of rain 20-30%

Source: http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/83780.html

It could possibly be a Vettel weekend (if his engine endures).

Huh..
At the F1 site there is a picture with a Torro Rosso.
Wich says:

Bourdais enters the first corner

Have I missed something ??

Nakajima is a rolling road-block sometimes, I am bloody suprised that Webber missed him!

I'm just watching the playback of the first practice session on the BBC sport website and Andrian Sutil just did the most impressive drift I have ever seen in a modern F1 car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Tiodhkv7g

It's probably the coolest thing I've seen this season, Sutil for the win.

Amazing. That Force India is a very well setup car that is clearly very driveable and predicable at (and WAY beyond) the limit. Such a shame, in a way, that nervous, twitchy cars can ultimately go quicker (albeit with more effort), and that that sort of driving isn't quicker.

Adrian Gilles Sutil is his full name