U.S. Grand Prix

[Veyron]

Did they send RB out with a setup to insure his being ahead of Juan on the grid to block? Or is it just going to come down to launch controls?

[ales]

I think RB is running light! As is Kimi. Should be interesting. Anyone have weather forecasts for the race?

[Veyron]

You can throw all forcasts out for this race, it is season change at this time, very unpredictable. When I attended this race in 2000, we wore shorts and tee shirts on Saturday, it was lie 78 degrees. We woke up Sunday morning, race day, to rain and 45 degrees. In 2001 it was beautiful weather all day both days, it's a lottery there, but next year this race will be in June and should be more stable.

[Guido]

Interesting starting grid for tomorrow to say the least. Look at Panis

[z33guy]

yea i heard rain around 2 oclock. I dont think RB will block and i hate trulli wrecked his car, i thought for sure he would be up there. Kimi and renault drivers dont have anything to lose, i wonder if their big moves on the track will effect the first corner also.

[RallyRaider]

Well done Kimi Hope he has a better result than the first time he was on pole at the Nurburgring.

Don't know if the frontrunners are running light but Coulthard and Schumacher reportedly made mistakes during their laps which is a more plausable reason for their difference to their team mates. Michael sounded very concerned with his setup, and has little chance to improve it for the race. Maybe he is being a bit wiley and has set his car up for the race - to be fast on the straight but not so good on the infield. Then again he was never been into that sort of Lauda/Prost tactic so why start now?

Go Kimi!

[ales]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

Don't know if the frontrunners are running light but Coulthard and Schumacher reportedly made mistakes during their laps which is a more plausable reason for their difference to their team mates. Michael sounded very concerned with his setup, and has little chance to improve it for the race. Maybe he is being a bit wiley and has set his car up for the race - to be fast on the straight but not so good on the infield. Then again he was never been into that sort of Lauda/Prost tactic so why start now?

DC did make a rather obvious mistake, while Schumacher's car looked really nervous, so there was no big mistake, but a few small ones. He was fighting it all the way. The difference in car behaviour when watching onboard shots to, say, JPM, was quite big. I do think that he went for a lower downforce setup, as did the Williams guys, while Kimi might have went for too much wing - good for qualifying but he might become a sitting duck on that straight in the race.

[simdel1]

it certainly will be interesting

im still rooting for michael, but i want kimi to do well too.

go wilson and button too......wilson qualified very badly

[RallyRaider]

Originally Posted by ales

DC did make a rather obvious mistake, while Schumacher's car looked really nervous, so there was no big mistake, but a few small ones. He was fighting it all the way. The difference in car behaviour when watching onboard shots to, say, JPM, was quite big. I do think that he went for a lower downforce setup, as did the Williams guys, while Kimi might have went for too much wing - good for qualifying but he might become a sitting duck on that straight in the race.

You are one up on me Alex, being able to see qualifying in full. All we get to see in Australia is a few highlights on the news. Looked to me as though Schumacher lost a heap of time through turns one and two in what little I saw.

True about the high downforce setup making overtaking difficult. IIRC in the USGP a couple of years ago Mika Hakkinen was caught behind a Minardi for many laps because he didn't have enough grunt to match it down the straight. However, the luxury of being on pole means that Kimi can fully exploit the fastest configuration of his car. As long as he has a clear road ahead of him a trade off favouring the infield over oval section will not matter one bit. Just needs to have faith in his LC!

What is the weather likely to be? Hot and dry good for Michelin, wet good for Ferraristone.

[hakka]

not good for Kimi

30% chance of rain for the race, high of 55 deg. F.

[Veyron]

It's cool and rainy in Indy right now, just before race start. Rumor is, MS set his car up for wet hence his grid position. There is a huge Columbian crowd there going crazy for JPM to win.

[ales]

Good start for MS and KR, bad for JPM and abysmal for RB.

[ales]

Good pass for DC, and for RS on Panis, and wtf did JPM do???

[ales]

That was not Montoya's corner!

Rain seems to be falling more substantially.

[ales]

Alonso on DC!!! Great pass!