Embarrassment for Raikkonen? The Reborn Grosjean...

[raymondu999]

Indeed - that is possible.

[bigpat]

Feel is something that is very hard to quantify. Yes generally more power assistance gives less feel, and vice-versa. But it is also think that the actual ratio of the steering rack and they amount of Ackerman ratio, and kingpin inclination has a say in this too. and with no testing it is hard to get the time to work through all the different combinations.

Driver strength isn't such an issue I think, as many lower formula cars don't have power assistance, and the steering wheels on F1 cars today are relatively larger in diameter, allowing the driver to apply more torque.

Also, today's cars run harder tyres than during the Bridgestone / Michelin tyre war, which means less loading. Now the cars don't run a lot of negative camber on the front wheels, which generally means you can run less castor angle, which really determines how heavy the steering is. Just my opinion......

[PlatinumZealot]

Grosjean is looking a bit faster in qualy after 6 races. For the driver X vs Driver Y aficionados this matches up well with Massa about edging him in Qually at Ferrari. Seems Kimi is fast at qually but maybe not as fast as we thought?

Not to confuse his race pace which is still excellent vs Grosjean.

[Red Schneider]

Let Raikkonen sort out his steering and then we'll see. Also wouldn't be surprised if Grosjean finds a way to fluff this one up too, but that's just speculation.

[zyphro]

Didn't Kimi's steering problem come about in Australia? Why does this problem still persist?

[raymondu999]

It's a preference thing. He probably achieved his preferred steering earlier in the season already, but with the special steering adjustments for Monaco - that may have been lost somewhat.

[nacho]

I don't think they ever sorted it out 100%. I wonder if the persistance in fixing it is related to his time at Ferrari and especially 2008.

[raymondu999]

Nah I doubt it. If Ferrari could make him a car he liked in 2007, I think at least the knowledge, if not the outright construction of the steering can be carried over

[ds.raikkonen]

More than the steering problem, the strategy also let him down. Poor fellow had to skate for at least 6-7 laps while the Lotus F1 guys waited for rain to come and change to intermediates. The big queue forming behind someone like the iceman was embarrassing, even though he did a good job of keeping them behind in a much slower car (due to worn out super soft PZeros). However, due to the waiting period, the ones ahead of him were long gone and he was stuck behind the Force Indias after the pit stop. Sad, before the race, I thought he had a good chance of getting a podium, even winning it. Alonso squeezed Grosjean and he went straight into MSC, poor fellow, he too had a good chance for a podium. Waiting for Montreal now.

[PlatinumZealot]

Didn't Kimi's steering problem come about in Australia? Why does this problem still persist?

As Long as I have watched Formula 1 Kimi has claimed steering problems. Very convenient way of blaming the car but not really blaming the car. His last steering change was even a step backwards! But what can he do when he already committed to the excuse!

[ds.raikkonen]

Well, if a driver of his caliber was nt quick round Monaco, there must have been a genuine problem with the steering. And it is better to talk about that after the race rather than raving about it on the pit radio during the race. And among the drivers who make excuses for lack of performance from their cars, I am pretty sure he is not one of them.

[raymondu999]

Well, if a driver of his caliber was nt quick round Monaco, there must have been a genuine problem with the steering. And it is better to talk about that after the race rather than raving about it on the pit radio during the race.

It started on Friday, mind. He did his first FP1 installation lap, then stayed in the pits as the crew did his steering rack. Apparently though they asked Kimi to just lap around the track first, and they could do the steering changes in between FP1 and FP2.

[lebesset]

Hmm... I really don't know what to think of Grosjean.

Eric Boullier will be most critical to Grosjean and he will be swiftly removed if performance is not improved.
The car (Lotus) is not slow at all. Just a fraction behind RB8 I think. In fact, even the Williams and Sauber look incredibly fast at race trim.
Anyway, Lotus better take advantage of this before the top teams got a handled of the tire behaviours.

What makes you say that? I think they are even with Vodafone McLaren , in fact I think as soon as Kimi Raikkonen has an error free* "flying lap" in qualifying, he'll take pole position.

I think Lotus F1 Team is a "top team", allready in 2010 this was evident. I am just sorry Kubica is not at the steering wheel.

*Looking at his qualifying lap in Malaysia, he pushed the car to hard, made two-three misstakes(what I could count). I belive him when he said he could have been on pole. He has'nt been perfect in qualifying, that's the truth.

isn't bouillier getting his 20% as grosjean's agent ?
Total needed a French driver [ yes I know he is swiss really but his mother is French ]for marketing reasons , and they are both his personal sponsor and the team's sponsor

not to say he doesn't have promise ...wouldn't have helped him when alonso nerfed him into schu though !!

[Donuts]

Raikkonen has been far from perfect in qualifying and if I may speculate a bit... he might not have had such a "fun time" with Kubica as his team mate, looking att where Grosjean has managed to put the E20. I'm not saying that he's not as good or even better, but it's pretty obvious that he lacks the edge in qualifying so far, due to his "break". Grosjean also had a break, but GP2 seems to be much more like F1 these days.

[PlatinumZealot]

Grosjean is probably the fastest Team mate he ever had.