Shanghai Report:
Arrived at the circuit about 10am. Dave was right, rain had fallen at the circuit earlier in the morning. Almost no rain till about an hour before the start when it was wet/dry every 15 mins for the next two hours.
Quite why Hamilton stayed out for so long on his knackered tyres I don't know. Kimi and Alonso were just reeling him in. Usually when a driver is that much slower it's essential to get him in for new tyres ASAP. But he didn't pit, he got passed and the tyres just got worse. Eventually you could see white marks on the right rear. It's quite common to see the canvas showing through on Chinese trucks, but not often seen on an F1 car. Maybe McLaren have become too Chinese! I had pointed out to Ray some laps earlier that he should pit and then when the marks appeared, I doubted he would get back to the pits. I thought the tyre would disintegrate on the straight. As it was, the car wouldn't go round the left hander in the pit lane approach. It’s unbelievable that he should stay out so long with tyres that were visibly finished laps ago. All the spectators could see it, why didn’t Big Ron call him in???????????
Interestingly, we walked on to the pit straight after the race and the recovery vehicle with Hamiltons car on top came past. Both rear tyres had already been covered in plastic sheeting! Maybe McLaren didn't want everyone to see their cock up.
It looks like Kimi is the new Schumi. The cheers/waves/general applause was at a level of adulation previously only reserved for MS.
I was wrong about the beer. A change of contract means it is now Budweiser which is even worse than the Fosters!!
Regards
David
epper:
