The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

Would you say since Nice never really used the doubleDRS, that it is negligible? Or really good to have at qualifying?

I asked @ZRZ20 about special security measures to access #f1 circuit , he answered no all same as every year . My question is , do you think Peter with the troubbles of these times all is the same as old grand prix there?

The Mercedes Team did a great job of coming to grips with the Pirelli tires in China but do you think they’ll struggle again in Bahrain during the race with track temps twice as high or more?

Given the success of the Perrelli compound changes over the past two years and the teams working to understand their optimum narrow window, would F1 consider changing the compound slightly every year?

If Mark Webber had been in the RB7, would it have been more likely that, with it’s higher nose, he would have flipped upside down in China instead of doing a ‘wheelie’?

Since you Brought up Ferrari may copy Sauber back side Are those two Teams that closely tied?

Why cant we see on the world feed, t-cam onboard footage on some occasion? The recent one is Timo GLock’s p2 front wing failure and crash. I can think on many “interesting” situations in recent f1 history where onboard cams where simply not shown, even if they where intact. Director is trying to find an angle to show action and cannot find the right shot, and does not use t-cam? Please, i know its not the smartest question, but i would really like to know. Thanks!

Hi Peter,
After watching Nico’s satisfying win, my question is: due to the refueling ban and the characteristics of the Pirelli tyres and their very limited peak window, are we entering a period where it will be impossible to see a driver achieve the Grand Slam (Chelem?) of pole, leading every lap, and grabbing fastest lap? And would this matter much to the drivers and teams? I imagine it’s a source of great pride within a team to achieve this feat over a race weekend.

Are there any teams based outside Europe? With increasing number of races outside Europe, do You think some major teams may consider changing their base?

Hi, Peter. I have put £10 on Alonso on 1st Jan’12 to win championship this year. So you are not alone .

Craig, four words, red bull steering wheel? sorry :)

Hi guys!
Great to hear about the extended show! Hypothetical question for you: If Nico hadn’t laid down such a quick lap in Quali and Lewis had set the fastest time, would he have been credited with his 22nd pole? (Despite not starting there – having been penalised 5 grid-places, he would’ve still been the quickest driver.)
Thanks again for the great show = @notonlyahatrack

I do not know much about Michael Schumacher’s front tyre issue, but I wonder if he might actually score points in the Chinese GP whether he would choose to make a slow speed lap back to the pits (he tryed for several turns and gave up eventually but I am asking if he chose it for safety reasons or actually discarded his chances)

Do you think without michaels problem with his right front,that he would have caught nico?do you think nico was leaving him behind or Michael was saving his tyres to attack when nico stopped?

Peter, great show, always following it live from NJ. Can you have Scarborough what he sees as Ferrari F2012 main problem?

A DRS question. Would it be possible to allow the lead car to activate his DRS milliseconds after the chase car has activated his? Maybe this will allow a more equal form of racing.

What are your thoughts on Webber’s little nose lift? What caused that and what kept him from launching airborn?

Force India were disappointing, is there any single factor you can pinpoint, or is it a money (for development) issue already showing up?

Finally a great season with so many different teams capable of winning the race. Will Mercedes dominate the rest of the season or will we know after F1 comes back to Europe? Why do we normally witness different teams in front after F1 comes back to Europe and a major strength change?

TFL is the best!
Scarbs, on the topic of great engineering, what do you think of DeltaWing?
(first day of Euro-test at Snetterton for them today)
Do you know if they have to pass FIA crash tests to race?
Thank You and congrats to everyone.

Is there a problem with sand getting in to the air vents in Bahrain?

Scarb,what do you expect from Ferrari’s Mugello updates?

Hi Peter and Craig, Fantastic show as always. Track temperatures in Bahrain is expected to be double that of what we have experienced in the first 3 Grand Prix. In your professional opinion, who do you think will struggle and who will excel in the hotter temperatures in both aero and tyre management?

The obvious one: I see Nico says Bahrain will suit the Mercedes. What’s the expert opinion on how the circuit suits the top teams?

Given Lewis Hamilton’s new found consistent form and timidness in overtaking in the race (Specifically on Massa), do you feel that he is no longer the Lewis Hamilton of old and will this strive for consistency ultimately win him the championship?

What about Kimi? Do you think it was all a tyre issue loosing so many places so rapidly. Why oh why did Lotus not pit him?

Question for Rob. Has Schumachers driving changed since he returned to formula one and why do think he isn’t the driver he once was

I had another question about the Double DRS system on the Mercedes to ask Scarbs. In 2009, teams had the ability to change the angle of the front wing twice during a lap. Was this used back then to achieve a similar effect to the Double DRS and would reintroducing this system mitigate the Double DRS system that Mercedes has?

Are there any teams based outside Europe? With increasing number of races outside Europe, do You think some major teams may consider changing their base?

On the Redbull what is the piece of body work under the letters GEOX ?

Do you think that this year we would see only 1 DRS zone in races rather than 2 in order to restrict the advantage of cars running with W-DRS?

Do you think Webber’s flight will require further safety measures, both on the car and the track?

Q for Scarbs, do you see the Merc W-Duct being more effective in circuits like China over others?

Why did Sebastian Vettel choose to drive an older, easier to handle and less risky RedBull (as opposed to Mark), and did not go for the newer more aggresive car? Do You think he played it too safe?

Do you think it would be possible to add a Sauber-like nose slot to Merc’s duct? Their Nodse-step looks quite big, and should cause some stellar turbulences that could be calmed by a solution like this, couldn’t it?

hi peter and scarbs which team do you think will be the first to copy the mercedes drs duct?

Do you see Sauber making any changes that might turn them into a real contender this season?

Can we finally put it rest that 2010 and 2011 were blown diffuser years? I know Vettel is great and all, but was that the critical part in these two years?

Do u think this is the first of many for Mercedes GP, or was it down to track and weather that really won them the race. Not saying the car is slow by any means, but is it only in these kind of conditions they are likely to be challenging for poles and wins.

at one point it was like a GP2 race from second place down !

Do radio conversations that we hear are live feed or a delay of 1/2 laps? we heard Button with his engineer telling him that he was 0.6/0.7 better than Nico when indeed he was doing 0.7 worst than Nico! thanks and well done for your superb technical info Scarbs and keep it up Peter for this series!

With Bahrain having such a warm climate, with track temperatures being very high, who will that play into the hands of? Do you think Mercedes will struggle more?

Any predictions on the cars being at the front in Bahrain for qualifying ?

Peter, last season in reference to Lewis you made the comment that a world championship winning approach doesn’t necessarily mean a race winning one. Do you think Lewis has tempered his approach slightly this year, given that 3 3rd’s has him top of the points?

Isn’t it likely that we will have some unexpected drivers in the game in Bahrain due to the very dusty track? Cars which have a problem with tyre management will probably suffer badly. Mercedes can be one of them.

I think Mercedes was in advantage here because the track temperatures were a little bit lower than in Malaezia (practice)

It was in his warmup-lap of the 2011 Belgian GP Q1 that MS lost a wheel on the approach to Rivage

Hi Peter and Scarbs!
How does the car ahead you affect the tyres?
Is it true in China the Prime compound (Medium) was in low working range and Option one (Soft) in high working range?

What do you expect teams to introduce to make gains in Spain? For example for Ferrari who say a bigger step is expected in Spain. Certainly others are not sitting on thier hands.

If not too late to jump in.
Will Ferrari and others BE able to adapt the Mercedes type F Duct?

Question for Craig…ferraris problems are mainly linked to pitch sensitivity…is it possible thay had a reactive ride height system and its ban harmed them??

With this being Pirelli’s second season now, how do you see thier performance? In your opinion, have they matched the expectations set out by the FIA? Would you like to see the return of a tyre war?

I would like to question,do you think that the super drs of mercedes can be used even with the wing closed ? or any team will try to do this for the race to ?

Hi guys,
There have been a couple of incidents of cars getting some air underneath them and then lifting off the ground recently – It almost happened to Mark Webber in China, it did happen to Marco Andretti in Indycar this weekend, and of course Webber again in Valencia 2010.
This looks extremely dangerous for drivers, marshals and even spectators, and I was wondering if its something that the sports need to address more… Can Scarbs perhaps think of any possible regulation changes which could reduce the chances of cars taking off like this?
Love the show, keep up the great work!

Do You think there should be more ‘old school’ and street circuits in the F1 calendar? Such tracs are more challenging, as every mistake results in a DNF. Safe tracks, with large areas of tarmack outside of the track, offer many opportunities for less skilled drivers to come back after spinning out of he track.

The ferrari front wing has some interesting holes in the black area, what do you think these are supposed to do?

hi scarbs and peter, hw u guys doing?? most of the teams are getting ready to introduce massive upgrades at mugello test, from spain onwards are we goin to see 2011 all over again?? likes of redbull coming with a strong package and again leading the pack up-front? and what teams you think will make big leap forwards after the mugello test?

With the clarification that the double DRS is now legal, what is to stop teams from blowing the front wing from a lever/switch operated as a secondary function of the throttle? Its no different than it being operated by the DRS system. Doesn’t this open up a massive can of worms?

RE: BAHRAIN – Is Alonso the only driver wishing it might rain?

do you belive that caterham run the same kers solution as redbull?

Peter- what do you think about Helmut Marko’s comments that some of the rule changes have been specifically designed to disadvantage Redbull? Would the W duct have been deemed legal had Red Bull come up with it and been way out in front again this season??

http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/7682566/-Rule-Changes-Made-To-Weaken-Bulls-

Scarbs/Peter What do you attribute RedBulls lack of dominating pace this season ASIDE from the blown diffuser? Has Newey finally been stumped?

To Scarbs, Speaking of car developments, Ferrari have been having issues with their car. Do you think its because of the wind tunnel to track co-relation problem they had last year or they just go wrong with the design?

With regards to image 8, do those winglets cause any drag or negative aero effect?

Early in the race Kimi lost a position in the pits, do you think Lotus is capable of matching the top teams pit stops? They have a fast car and fast drivers but seems this is one area they need improvement to be a challenger. Lastly do you think Lotus can keep up the development race as well?

Thank you for inviting Rob again!
We love listening to him! The same with most of you great friends/guests: Scrabs, V Statman…

Hello Scarbs and Peter, I’ve been waiting for a long while for Nico to finally break out and have the drive of his life. He’s been out driving Michael for a couple of years now, and I was tired of hearing, is Nico ever going to measure up to Keke. I hope now Nico will be seen as the high caliber F1 driver that he is! Great Job Nico!!!

If Jenson’s stop had gone OK, he would have come out with tyres 5 laps newer – does the performance gap change over time i.e. high (relatively) for a few laps while Jenson’s tyres very new, then low (relatively), then high again as Nico’s tyres hit the “cliff”… so with the number of laps remaining, would we have reached stage 3? If not, no chance for Jenson?

Question for both of you. Do you think McLaren was playing it SAFE in China? It felt like it to me. They didn’t risk anything, ran softer tyres when others went for mediums, three stopping etc. Maybe McLaren knows it has the fastest car and by plying it safe every race they will win the Championships? Other teams like Mercedes, RBR, Lotus will risk and sometimes win, sometimes be outside the points.

RE: China and DRS, are you surprised DRS wasn’t more of a factor in China given the opportunity when there was a long train of cars behind Massa and Kimi. Wasn’t DRS more effective in that situation?

speaking about aeroplanes,could it be in F1 a wing in v like in jetfighters?

There is all the talk about Raikkonen? But what about Romain Grosjean and his great performance on Sunday to get 6th!! Particularly against Maldonado showing no fear!

There is all the talk about Raikkonen? But what about Romain Grosjean and his great performance on Sunday to get 6th!! Particularly against Maldonado showing no fear!

What do you think of Felipe Massa’s chances in Bahrain? He finished the race at China only five seconds behind Alonso, and has been a Bahrain specialist in the past.

Why cant we see on the world feed, t-cam onboard footage on some occasion? The recent one is Timo GLock’s p2 front wing failure and crash. I can think on many “interesting” situations in recent f1 history where onboard cams where simply not shown, even if they where intact. Director is trying to find an angle to show action and cannot find the right shot, and does not use t-cam? Please, i know its not the smartest question, but i would really like to know. Thanks!

Any idea what Mercedes is changing on their cars to change the tyre behaviour. In Australia they had too much wear and in Malaysia they had too little. So it must be very efficient thing to change – exhaust, camber or multiple things?

Hello Peter Hope you are well.Not sure what your feeling is about Bahrain.When sport & politics collide its never a pretty picture.Do you think going to Bahrain will tarnish the image of F1 long term?All the best Diane

In Australia I was very critical of McLarens rear jack operation during pitstops. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they made changes to their equipment in the last race. Do you know any more detail on this matter?

Given that sebastian vettel scored 390 odd points during one of the most dominant formula one seasons ever and this year it looks like maybe even 5 teams could win races. Could lewis hamiltons approach of getting on the podium each race see him take the championship with 300 points? I think it could by a fair margin so long as mercedes don’t do a “vettel” from here on out.

Now that the Mercedes’s DRS-activated front wing f-duct has been declared kosher, do Craig and Peter have a view on how quickly and easily the other teams can incorporate it into their own 2012 machines (assuming they’ll all try to do so)? And even if they do, will it likely be as effective as the one on the Mercedes which has been designed originally with the system in place (I’m thinking of how in 2010 no f-duct ever seemed as effective as McLaren’s, whose car had an f-duct from the outset).

Hi guys – great show as always. 90 minutes is even better! On tires, they obviously have a very narrow sweet spot based on the comments coming out of the last two races. Based on what you are seeing do you think that the closeness we are seeing down the first 10-12 grid positions (that includes a lot of teams) could continue through the rest of the year? It appears the races are being decided almost as much on the specific conditions of the race (hot, cold) and the set-up chosen for the weekend as on one car having better outright speed potential. Are we more likely to see qualifying trim compromised (e.g allowed to be slower) to get the best out of the race and less toward a good grid spot in future races? I can’t such a season in ages but if so we may have a great year of racing ahead!