F1 2011 Some older threads (archive)

[Jamie Cottage]

* Just an idea guys, hope it might prove useful to some! *

We've all played racing games online where the first corner turns in to a demolition derby. Sometimes it's hard to find like-minded racers who like to play clean and fair. Your friends list might be a little empty or you might be playing at an odd time of the day when friends aren't online. If this has happened to you why not try this out:

1. Link removed

2. Wait for me to accept the request (will check the gamertag every so often)

3. When you want to play F1 2011 online check the friends list of 'Race Department' (which is viewable by all) to find fellow racers

The idea of this is to have a list of 100 people from Race Department who regularly play F1 2011 on Xbox 360 at your disposal 24/7. If you play with someone and have a good time then send them a friend request. If for whatever reason you decide not to play F1 2011 and/or Xbox 360 anymore please remove 'removed' as a friend making space for others.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Doesn't look like my team mate is gonna make it tonight as his wheel is broken. So you should have a spot on the grid

You are right Gavin, we confirmed his drive yesterday.

 

[Mark Greenall]

Who's hosting? And what distance! I can host no prob..

 

[Peter Hooper]

Happy to go with whatever distance the majority want.....

 

[Martin Ott]

Maybe I shouldn't play Touhou before a race.. I could dodge cars well, but not stay in front.

Muffed up qualy, as usual. P4's still fine.
Had a good start, but got beside Graham, but got pushed off the road slightly.
No worries, that's how it goes

Lost two places to Dylan and Gavin.
Tried to get past again for a couple of laps but never succeded.
To make it harder I spun it onto the finish straight and had to let everyone pass before I could rejoin.

Slowly picked my way through the field,
pitted on lap 9 for primes to go the long way, maybe a safety car will help me out?

Kept it steady, cought up with Gavin, Dylan and David O*, passed David, was right beside Dylan when he D/C'ed.
Then had my fight with Gavin again, only getting by when his tyres went down.
Just kept my head clear and drive my race.

In the final stint, already given up on catching anyone, I came closer to Mark and Andrew who were batteling for P5.
Put it into mix 3 for a lap to get close and into DRS.
Final 5 laps now!

Managed to get into DRS and got Mark, now close behind Andrew.

In that order we came up to the final chicane, Andrew half a sec in front, Mark right behind me.
I put it in the middle of the road and breaked.
Dunno what happened, but Mark hit my right rear wheel, breaking too late I assume, possibly damaging his front wing.
The running really wide and cutting the second part of the chicane (not by much).
Right on exit Andrew spun it and Mark and me were through, me taking him in the DRS zone and pulling a little gap, 'cause he had to save fuel.

I was on the edge with my fuel as well now, but saw Chris just ahead.
Put it into mix 1 and looked if I could get near - maybe he had to save fuel as well?

Seems so, even in mix 1 I crawled nearer.

Final lap,
put it into mix 3 just for the long straight after just getting to the right fuel level again,
and pulled past easily.
Putting mix 1 in again in the braking zone to get to the finish.

But
Chris seemed to have the same ace up his sleeve
and pulled beside me right before Blanchimont!
As he was on the outside I didn't think he'd stick with it, but he did.
He took just the room and took it into the final chicane.

I hoped he'd run out of fuel on the pit straight, so lined myself up,
but it didn't happen.
We finished just 0.1 apart.
Well done Chris

Well done as well to my team mate for another win, Jack for being back on pace,
and of curse to Rafal for a great first race!

I had the pace for a podium finish I think,
but everyone can have a "bad" day, right?
Pretty happy to finish 5th after an eventful race.
Great fun

Edit: Also sorry to Chris for pushing you a little on on the long straight when I had DRS.
Take it as a compliment that you put your car just right to block me off

 

[Maciej Cieslak]

I have to forget about this GP how qiuck is possible.
Very sorry to Chris Benham on 1 lap, after the longest straight I pushed his car. I dont know what happend, I was breaking probably to late, but also I felt kick from behind. There is a short movie with intresting actions.
Congratulations for top 3 and thank you for good fun.

 

[Peter Hooper]

Nice one Maciej, really enjoyed our battle in the last spell after my pit stop . You got me in the end but I didn't give the place up easily . Shame it was for no points though...

 

[David O'Reilly]

With a lot of good drivers with good pace at Spa I was expecting some drama in the opening laps so went primes and just stayed back a little safe on mix 1 for 5 laps trying to get in a good place strategically.
My little race was planned to be with Andrew Ford, Gavin, David Cook mainly.
Stayed in touch with them on my primes and lean mix which set up the balance of the race. Then when they pitted I turned the mix to 3 and went fast for 4 laps.
Andrew was too fast but got the pass on David C during or soon after pit stops washed out.
I was now on options and had some fuel so went hard in 2nd stint and was pushing Gav on lap 20. He ran opt/opt/prime so had to stop then. Again upped the mix for a few laps and took my final options at lap 23 and got the pass exiting the pits just in front of Gavin. His primes meant I could slowly make a small gap from 1.3 sec out to poss 6 sec at race end.
It was the best I could do on pace so happy with that strategic call and stayed error and incident free. With my #1 team mate Dylans disconenct and Mark Grenalls sudden retirement from the race it elevated me to P7. Thats good points for me.
Thanks for the race.

 

[Andrew Ford]

I have to forget about this GP how qiuck is possible.
Very sorry to Chris Benham on 1 lap, after the longest straight I pushed his car. I dont know what happend, I was breaking probably to late, but also I felt kick from behind. There is a short movie with intresting actions.
Congratulations for top 3 and thank you for good fun.

another very very fair drive by you mate. very honest. think you were a little hard done by at 4.50? you gave places back and then got smashed into gravel!

 

[Colin Knowles]

Quali - error on each flying lap made me push hard on last lap, another error and i clipped the wall giving me a puncture and P14
Wasnt too dissapointed as i knew i had a good car for the race.

Race - Started well gained a few places here and there no drama all clean. made P6 and was fighting then pushed out ! not sure who, but was dissapointed. Waited for what seemed to be 30 seconds ( turned out 7sec.) for traffic to pass then rejoined track. Made my way back up the field and felt like Maciej out-braked himself putting me in the grass. Must say sorry for my imperssionation of Pastor Maldonado on Lewis ( Maciej )Hamilton, Maciej waited for me to repass him ( many thanks ) and i slapped his car in fustration as seen on above video. Was still fuming from previous accident.

Then got stuck behind team mate who refused to yield to No#1
Was not impressed as am sure Mr. Haug wasnt either

No#2 pitted when i was due in on lap10 so was forced to stay out
Pitted 17 laps in then switched to Prime to race end.

Congratulations to Jarv027 for the win around another prestigous F1 track , and Rafa on his stunning debut. Well done Klamca for staying and finishing the race which is more than i can say for my No#2

May i now plead insanity to the FIA for my wreckless manouvere which was released to the media moments ago.
Can i request an appeal........??

 

[David Cook]

Belgium results: http://theblowndiffuser.com/world-championship-standings/championship-archives/belgium/
Drivers`standings: http://theblowndiffuser.com/world-championship-standings/drivers-standings/
Constructors` standings: http://theblowndiffuser.com/world-championship-standings/constructors/

All subject to change if penalties are issued. Let me know if you spot an error.

 

[David Cook]

Well, I was very glad I raced today. I was very ill and felt sure I wouldn`t be able to race but I decided to have a go at the last minute and it wasn`t a complete disaster. I scored some points and I don`t think I got in anyone`s way so I was very pleased.

Qualifying: Felt too sick to go out initially but with about 5 minutes left I thought I should go out there as a warm up. My first flying lap was so-so, setting a 1:42.972. My second flying lap was looking faster but I wasn`t in the right frame of mind and I had a spin off the track. My first lap would be my only complete lap which put me 11th on the grid.

Race: I was able to put on new options at the start which was good. I didn`t want to get in anyone`s way off the start so I was very submissive, half-throttling it which lost me a couple of positions to Mark Greenall and Colin. The next few laps were spent trying to get by Colin who was proving quite difficult to pass. Eventually he had a spin and then I was racing Mark but he seemed to find a rhythm after a couple of laps and left me behind quite suddenly. I pitted for primes on lap 10. Around lap 16 I saw David exit the pitlane in front of me with fresh options. I passed him on the DRS straight while his tyres were still cold, but he got me on the next lap and then he left me far behind. On lap 23 I noticed Gavin gaining on me but I pitted for options before he had the chance to overtake. I exited the pitlane about 15 seconds behind Gavin. I was on fresh options and he was on older primes. I thought I could close this gap with my tyre advantage but to my surprise he actually increased the gap to 17 seconds by the end of the race. I didn`t even feel ill by the end of the race and yet I was still really slow which was very frustrating. I didn`t seem to be making any errors and it seemed like I was following my usual line but I had no pace. I finished ninth with a slow fastest lap of 1:45.636 which was on options a few laps from the end. I think part of the problem was that I had my seventh gear set to take full advantage of DRS but I only got to use DRS about twice the whole race so I was really slow on the straights.

Pleased to score two points and finish without disaster and without being lapped. Well done to Graham for the win. Looking forward to Monza which was a lot of fun during the Christmas pro ams.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Belgium Results and Standings

http://theblowndiffuser.com/world-championship-standings/championship-archives/belgium/
my spreadsheet agrees with Davids figures so subject to any stewards enquiries.
Thankyou to David Cook for doing a great job on the Blown Diffuser Web site and results.

 

[Gavin Hendley]

Qualy
Went out on my first options did two laps and got 142.8 which put me in 8th, went out on second set of options and my first lap was compromised by Peter who also was on a hot lap so pressure was on. Only had time for one more perfect lap and managed a PB of 1.42.3 which put me in 6th.

Race
My heart was pounding at the start, took turn one at La Source to see Martin squeezed out by his team mate so I flippled to mix 3 and a lot of KERS to get in to 4th place and held that for one lap then slowly found my self in a dog fight for the next ten laps. I was gradually been over taken simatainiously at times on the straight after En Rouge 3 times. Found my self back in my familiar position had one contact with Dylan at Bruxelles after late braking and gave him back his position. I don't know for sure if it was the right thing to do but I try to be fair. Great battle with Dylan who seemed to struggle a bit. I hope he enjoyed it too for as long as it lasted. First stint was really fly by the seat of your pants driving. What let me down was late braking in to corners on heavy fuel loads.

Second stint was an enjoyable battle with Martin for 5 laps then David O slowly catching me close to the end of my second stint. Had to give him the warning I was pitting as he was that close. Came out on primes then and was chasing down David C, he did seem slower as I had to go to mix 1 to save fuel and still managing to reel him in. Had a hairy moment on the back straight when I caught David side by side and was squeezed on to the grass but no harm done and he pitted on that lap. Next David O he pitted and was 5sec behind but still in fuel saving mode he managed to increase the gap and ninth place looked to be cemented till Mark Greenall disappeared to move up to 8th.

Thanks for a great race, competition was tough as always, congrats to the podium finishers Graham, Rafal and Jack.
My video highlights are in the Media section for Spa I glad I had this recorded see you on track soon.

 

[Peter Hooper]

Afternoon all, sorry for the late report but work just keeps getting in the way of my RD stuff.. it's not on and I need to have a word with them about it

Enjoyed the race yesterday despite the lack of a points finish.

About the first time I have ever got to the start screen and sighed with disappointment that it was going to be a dry race… really fancied I might be able to surprise a few if the weather had been wet at some point.. but wasn't to be..

Qualifying I went out for my first run on primes just to try to get a bit of rhythm and then did a couple of laps on options. Disappointed with a low 1:44, about a second off what I got in an earlier 75% practice race quali session but even that would have ony pushed me up one place I was not too concerned. Sorry if I messed up your lap Gavin, didn't realise.. you should have honked lol

Got away ok and broke early so as not to plough into David C who seemed to get backed up at La Source and I lost a couple of places as a result to those that went on the outside. Spent a few laps in close proximity of a good group of cars and after getting past a couple found myself with David the next in line. Got up close but he's a tough one to pass and then I had Martin on me and he quickly got through on the outside of the approach to Les Combes. Had a good view from a distance of Martin and Davids battle and even Martin couldn't get past him so made me feel better Although I didn’t lose too much ground I wasn't able to make any inroads into the small gap and made my stop for primes on lap 10 from around 10th place. Also had some good early action with Jacko, Paul, Colin and Klampka. Jacko caught me napping after I made a pass on him under DRS, pulled back over for the better line into Les Coombes only to find him dart back inside and beat me to it lol. Luckily I kept a bit of pressure up and he ran wide at Pouhon and I regained the place as he slid off at turn 13. Colin was quite slippery yesterday, after I had got past him when he went off on the exit of Stavelot he caught me up some time after my pit stop and made a nice DRS pass along Kemmel but a fast charging Klampka tried to take advantage at the same time and went up my inside but went a bit deep forcing both himself and Colin off at Les Combes while I cut inside to regain my spot.

It was a bit of a quieter middle spell where I had a bit of a gap to those ahead and from those behind and also I got distracted during laps 7-19 when my other half was trying to talk to me about some things from earlier in the day and as a result lost concentration a little. I still only made one little mistake (missed my braking point at Bruxelles and ended up in the gravel losing me around 5 seconds) as a result of trying to listen and answer her but it did cost me some time as I really have to concentrate fully on the driving and not have my mind dealing with other things as well. Once I made the mistake I quickly cut it short to get my mind back in the race lol but I probably lost any chance of getting into the points during that spell.

I made my second stop for options at the end of lap 22 and then had a really exciting spell of racing in the last 10 laps. Came out of my pit stop around 18 seconds behind Colin thinking he would be pitting again but soon realised that he was on a one stopper so was desperately trying to close the gap down whilst making sure the fuel was going to get me to the line (tough fuel management around here when theres no rain spell!!) At the same time I had Klampka closing down on me fast and we really enjoyed a good race together for that closing spell including a great side-by-side duel through Eau-Rouge.. brilliant bit of racing. He finally got me under DRS on the penultimate lap and although I tried to get him back I never had the legs as I was desperately managing the fuel. I did consider a last gasp move at the final chicane but was too far back and jumped on the brakes sending me into a spin just in time to avoid a collision…. all for 11th and 12th place lol..

Overall, disappointed to miss out on the points positions but can't be too disappointed. Compared my race last night with the 75% practice I did early morning and my time was 2 seconds quicker so bearing in mind the mid race spell of disruption I am happy with that. Congrats on another win Graham and well done to to everyone that finished, and especially to all the points finishers (another good finish despite another CSR disconnect from my buddy Andy and good points from my team mate Chris before his mid season sabatical.. have a good 'un mate.. Ash has big driving shoes to fill at Monza ) But don’t forget all the points scorers….. if you start slacking off there's a bunch of us at the back learning, watching and waiting to make that move up the field

Video will hopefully be up later or tomorrow.. got to edit out the audio from some

Monza next.. OH NO MONZA NEXT!!!!:eek: ... not looking forward to that one.. last time we raced there I had seven.. yes seven drive throughs!!

Cheers

 

[Colin Knowles]

another very very fair drive by you mate. very honest. think you were a little hard done by at 4.50? you gave places back and then got smashed into gravel!

Sorry Andrew but " VERY VERY FAIR drive by you Mate". Has left the blood abit over the 100C mark

Believe me when i say the video is positively tame compared to the image you woulda seen from my view
I cannot excuse the tap i gave Maciej exiting turn 8 but i apologised as soon as the race had finished and he did say

no prob
Wish i had recorded but has not been possible since my agent/engineer/worthless No#2 driver started to try and compete.

If you go back and watch Maciej at 4mins 39sec you will see him arrive at, a less than perfect line, into the corner @190kph ( would like confirmation it is kph) :eek: The lap before or 1 before he goes through the apex on a decent/good speed of 156 kmp ( please confirm kph or mph please ) Now ive never race against Maciej before so im gonna say racing incident and he did wait for everyone to retake him !! Maciej pulling over was the right thing to do ! nothing fair about that, but my slap in the Big Merc WAS unfair.

Was more the push out on lap 4 or 5 i was upset over. Made up the field with a quick car set up and clean racing then during the battle somebody dived up the inside where they had no right too Ive wasted time sat behind another competitor because i wasnt 100% sure i could pull off the overtake cleanly but seems impossible for others. Now we all know that 100% comes down alittle when the blood is pumping but i was taken out, and not as David Cook said i spun Was pushed !! Just like Maciej pushed me !!

Was hoping to find a sorry in Private message box this morning but nope :oops:
I hope there is more footage to come !!??
Will have a good car again in Milan too!! whether its from the back of the grid or not

Ps Maciej please dont take this personally because i think you will be a great addition to this league. You were very clean before 4MINS 36SECONDS and this group of guys run a very very organised ship which is a pleasure to race in ( most of the time )
Now lets see how the race stewards decide this one

 

[Andrew Ford]

Sorry Andrew but " VERY VERY FAIR drive by you Mate". Has left the blood abit over the 100C mark

Believe me when i say the video is positively tame compared to the image you woulda seen from my view
I cannot excuse the tap i gave Maciej exiting turn 8 but i apologised as soon as the race had finished and he did say

well apologies if you felt i got it wrong mate. at nurburgring klamca had some very fair racing with me and then i saw him give up position when he had cut the corner by accident. i think some people miss their braking points by accident and just have to learn to improve on that. i didn't watch in massive detail. nex ttime i will try and consider the implications of a positive comment lol sorry for ur race - if klamca effected you.

 

[David O'Reilly]

found myself with David the next in line. Got up close but he's a tough one to pass and then I had Martin on me and he quickly got through on the outside of the approach to Les Combes. Had a good view from a distance of Martin and Davids battle and even Martin couldn't get past him so made me feel better
Cheers

Pete I pride myself on "hitting the apex" when under attack and driving a wide car!!
In stint 1 I ran primes and mix 1 but got a rude shock when you got all over the HRTs gearbox and had to go mix 2 to evade a DRS shot from you.

 

[Maciej Cieslak]

Sorry Andrew but " VERY VERY FAIR drive by you Mate". Has left the blood abit over the 100C mark

Believe me when i say the video is positively tame compared to the image you woulda seen from my view
I cannot excuse the tap i gave Maciej exiting turn 8 but i apologised as soon as the race had finished and he did say

My apologize Colin, I joined to the track to early, and I was breaking to late thats why I drove straight to miss the crash.
Everything happend so quick so If I make any problem for another drivers, I am sorry..
Colin, I wrote "no prob" because I thought You were apologizing for somthing I didnt know about
Probably I will get penalty from FIA?

 

[Colin Knowles]

My apologize Colin, I joined to the track to early, and I was breaking to late thats why I drove straight to miss the crash.
Everything happend so quick so If I make any problem for another drivers, I am sorry..
Colin, I wrote "no prob" because I thought You were apologizing for somthing I didnt know about
Probably I will get penalty from FIA?

No i dont want anyone to get a penalty for Monza. Just want to remind people that we are putting in quite a few hours practise all for it to be worthless over a split second decision !! Mistakes will happen but rash moves can be avoided. Sorry Mark was abit abrubt but felt like i had to defend my actions

Ill wait for any Gossip from the Blown Diffuser to see if my Maldonado moment is punished

 

[Deleted member 115516]

I watched last years race on DVD before this race for some tips!

Qualifying
Done a personal best in quali 1.41.4 for P3 so pretty happy with that

Race
Stayed in P3 for first corner, had a little bump from behind but no harm done.
Passed Jack on the long straight after Eau rouge. Was behind Rafal for the next 2 laps, i was faster in sector 2 but couldn't pass.
Lap 3 i went to mix 3 and used all my KERS coming out of turn 1, i also got the DRS so i was flying past .
Turned my engine back down to mix 2 because of the high fuel consumption here.
Think Rafal turned his engine up to mix 3 because he came past me on lap 4/5. Past him again lap later. He passed me on lap 8 were we actually touched a little on the DRS straight.
Pitted on lap 9 for another set of Options. Came out behind Mark Greenall where i squeezed past him into the last corner. Passed Chris Benham a lap later into turn 17. Turned my engine up to mix 3. Came out just in front of Rafal as he exited the pit lane.
I pushed really hard so i could break Rafal's DRS. I pulled out the gap to 7 seconds.
Pitted on lap 18 for Primes, came out a few seconds behind Jack who was running long on Primes. Managed to pass him with the DRS on my fresh Primes. Jack then pitted for his Options with about 10 laps to go.
Turned my engine down to mix 1 for about 4 laps. Rafal got the gap down to 2 seconds. I had to use all my KERS coming out of turn 1 so he could'nt use the DRS. turned the engine back to standard where i stabalised the gap to the flag

Post Race
After winning Monaco, Silverstone and Spa i really want to win at Monza. The four classic circuits that have been in F1 championship since day 1.
Where is Hazeldine when I'm on form?? Step up Mr Hazeldine or are you chicken?? ( Don't come back for Monza please mate).