November 19, 2012
F1 on SPEED!: Brazil 2012
And so it comes to this. One race for all the marbles. Ferrari vs Red Bull. HWMNBN vs Seb Vettel. On my least favorite circuit in F1. Here's the track map for the 2012 Grand Prix of Brazil:
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, colloquially known as Interlagos, has been the home of the Brazilian Grand Prix (that's a lot of grands prix!) since 1973, and has been my least favorite circuit ever since I became a huge F1 fan in 2004. It's strange that I hate the track so much, since it's got a lot of the features I regularly like. First and foremost, it's not flat. The start/finish straight is the high-altitude mark of the layout, but it rapidly dives away at Turn 1 to Turn 3. It stays flat all the way to Turn 11, then begins to regain all the height lost from Turns 12 to 15.
It's this uphill climb where we've seen the most exciting finish to a Formula 1 season ever, in 2008. Ferrari's Felipe Massa had won the race, and what appeared to be his first Driver's Championship as well. His only rival, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, was in 6th place, but needed to finish 5th to win the Championship... and he'd just been passed by a young driver named Seb Vettel, driving for Toro Rosso. It looked like Massa had his elusive Championship... until Tim O'Glockenspiel, driving for Toyota, nearly spun his car in wet conditions in Turn 14 on the last lap. Hamilton got past him for 5th and his first Championship.
This year, rain is in the picture again, with thunderstorms on tap for Saturday, and rain on Sunday. It's 2008 all over again, and god help me I'm rooting for HWMNBN. Well, that's not really true... I'm more rooting against Seb Vettel. I don't want him to win three championships in a row, so sue me. Rain is another thing we often see at Interlagos, and that often leads to fun races.
It's also a fast track, with only the twiddlybits from Turn 6 thru 11 being slow-ish. The rest is nearly all flat-out. I'd always rather see race cars going quickly than going slowly, so again, I should like Interlagos.
But I don't. It's always seems grey there, and it's dangerous to boot (three racers died there in 2011). And it's the end of the F1 season until March. How can anybody like that? THIS year, it's also the end of the Legendary Announce Team, as F1 leaves SPEED after Sunday. We've still got them for one more race, so let's enjoy it while we can. Here's the schedule of events.
FRIDAY
P1: 6a - 730a streaming
P2: 10a - 1130a live
SATURDAY
P3: 7a - 8a streaming
Quals: 10a - 1130a live-ish
SUNDAY
930a - 12noon: 2012 Grand Prix of Brazil live
Of course, F1 Update! will be all over the weekend, though we may take a miss on the streaming things. We'll see you then!
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, colloquially known as Interlagos, has been the home of the Brazilian Grand Prix (that's a lot of grands prix!) since 1973, and has been my least favorite circuit ever since I became a huge F1 fan in 2004. It's strange that I hate the track so much, since it's got a lot of the features I regularly like. First and foremost, it's not flat. The start/finish straight is the high-altitude mark of the layout, but it rapidly dives away at Turn 1 to Turn 3. It stays flat all the way to Turn 11, then begins to regain all the height lost from Turns 12 to 15.
It's this uphill climb where we've seen the most exciting finish to a Formula 1 season ever, in 2008. Ferrari's Felipe Massa had won the race, and what appeared to be his first Driver's Championship as well. His only rival, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, was in 6th place, but needed to finish 5th to win the Championship... and he'd just been passed by a young driver named Seb Vettel, driving for Toro Rosso. It looked like Massa had his elusive Championship... until Tim O'Glockenspiel, driving for Toyota, nearly spun his car in wet conditions in Turn 14 on the last lap. Hamilton got past him for 5th and his first Championship.
This year, rain is in the picture again, with thunderstorms on tap for Saturday, and rain on Sunday. It's 2008 all over again, and god help me I'm rooting for HWMNBN. Well, that's not really true... I'm more rooting against Seb Vettel. I don't want him to win three championships in a row, so sue me. Rain is another thing we often see at Interlagos, and that often leads to fun races.
It's also a fast track, with only the twiddlybits from Turn 6 thru 11 being slow-ish. The rest is nearly all flat-out. I'd always rather see race cars going quickly than going slowly, so again, I should like Interlagos.
But I don't. It's always seems grey there, and it's dangerous to boot (three racers died there in 2011). And it's the end of the F1 season until March. How can anybody like that? THIS year, it's also the end of the Legendary Announce Team, as F1 leaves SPEED after Sunday. We've still got them for one more race, so let's enjoy it while we can. Here's the schedule of events.
FRIDAY
P1: 6a - 730a streaming
P2: 10a - 1130a live
SATURDAY
P3: 7a - 8a streaming
Quals: 10a - 1130a live-ish
SUNDAY
930a - 12noon: 2012 Grand Prix of Brazil live
Of course, F1 Update! will be all over the weekend, though we may take a miss on the streaming things. We'll see you then!
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November 18, 2012
F1 Update!: 2012 United States Grand Prix
They say they do things big in Texas... big country, big cattle, big hats, and now, biggest of all, the big Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The past few days has confirmed that it's a nice looking track, but how will it race? Who would win the return of F1 to the US? And biggest of all, would Seb Vettel and Red Bull take home the two championships: Drivers and Constructors? Or would HWMNBN and Ferrari manage to stretch them both out to the last race in Brazil? THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2012 United States Grand Prix!
*BEFORE: Things looked bleak for HWMNBN. He qualified ninth behind Vettel's pole, and when Lotus' Lettuce Grosjean served his five grid-spot penalty, he got bumped up to eighth, but to the dirty side of the track. The consensus view was that trying to start on the dirty side would be similar to running in the wet: lousy. Some wags were even saying that being on the even-numbered side would immediately cost a driver four places at the start. And then Ferrari did something quite sneaky, quite legal, and very, very clever: they snipped the FIA seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox. You see, once a car begins Quals, it is in parc ferme condition and unable to have any changes done to it beyond the most basic (front wing angle changes, mostly). Things like engines, gearboxes and the like are sealed by the FIA with a lead... well, seal. If that seal is broken during parc ferme, there's an immediate penalty. This morning, Ferrari walked into the stewards' office and dropped the two chunks of seal on the desk. Of course, there was nothing to be done but give Felipe Massa a penalty... the team didn't even change the gearbox, they just broke the seal. Massa was dropped down to 11th, and HWMNBN was promoted to 7th place. On the clean side of the track. Somewhere, an evil genius is rubbing his hands together, cackling "excellent, excellent!" to himself. And wearing red.
*LIGHTS OUT: While being on the clean side of the track did not, in fact, immediately convey a four-spot advantage to those fortunate enough to reside there, it certainly helped HWMNBN. By the time he maneuvered his way up Phil Hill and Turn 1, he was in fourth. Meanwhile, McLaren's Shiv Hamilton, starting second on the dirty side of the grid, lost a place to Vettel's teammate Mark Webber... and at this point, we here at F1U! want to point out the greatest visual we've ever seen in Formula 1:
We've been expecting this ever since we saw the elevation map for the Circuit of the Americas, and we're glad the F1 camera team caught it. Now, Vettel and Webber in front set up the worst nightmare of the fan hoping for an exciting race: two Red Bulls galloping off into the sunset, and of course Seb Vettel began to pull away from his teammate. But Hamilton, knowing that he couldn't let the German get away if he wanted to win this race, pushed Webber hard.
*NOW IT'S A RACE!: It only took four laps for Hamilton to get past the Australian, and he immediately set off after the leader. There was about three seconds between the two, and for once, it was clear that the combination of Vettel and RB8 chassis wasn't, in fact, the best car/driver combo on the track. No, today it seemed that Hamilton and the McLaren MP4/27 was the class of the field, for he began to rip off fast lap after fast lap in his pursuit of the reigning world champion. By Lap 10, the lead was cut in half, to 1.5 seconds, with Webber 4.5 seconds behind Hamilton, and HWMNBN a further three seconds adrift and not making any headway on the Australian. However, nobody else could hold a candle to him as Nico Hulkenberg was nine seconds behind in fifth and fading.
*MARANELLO CHUCKLING: Considering that everybody was predicting a one-stop strategy, seeing cars beginning to make their way into the pits on Lap 14 had to be a surprise. What wasn't really surprising was the radio call to Mark Webber on Lap 16: "KERS has failed, KERS has failed." How many times have we heard Red Bull say that this year? Ferrari certainly began to get excited about that, and only got moreso when, a moment later, the Aussie pulled to the side of the circuit with a cascading electronics failure. This promoted HWMNBN into third place... but it was still early. Hamilton and the Ferrari pilot pitted on Lap 21, with Vettel doing the same on 22. Unsurprisingly, he kept his lead during his stop and when the rotation was over, everything remained the same: Vettel, Hamilton and farther back, HWMNBN.
*NO WAY!: While Hamilton kept on coming, it looked like he could get close, but couldn't make the move on the leader. The McLaren's advantage in top speed and parity in the twisty bits began to tell, so that by Lap 40, the gap between the two was down to 0.6 seconds, well within the DRS activation range. On Lap 42, the two encountered the HRT of Narain Kittylitter in the 'esses' and Vettel had some trouble getting around the backmarker, allowing Hamilton to close up even more. At this point, Vettel was complaining on the radio about Kittylitter slowing him up, none of which made any difference. As the leaders entered the DRS activation zone, the McLaren had a huge advantage in speed. Vettel made it difficult, maybe even stretching the rules as he kinda-sorta weaved a little bit as Hamilton closed in, but it made no difference: the RB8 was passed for the lead, and Maranello was suddenly going crazy.
*THE END: Hamilton quickly opened a 1.5 second lead over Vettel, who was over a half-minute ahead of HWMNBN, and for all intents and purposes, that's how the race ended. On the final lap, Vettel cut the lead to under a second, but couldn't get any closer and Shiv Hamilton, winner of the last US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, became the first winner of the US Grand Prix at Austin. Vettel came home in second place, with HWMNBN in third, minimizing the damage to his championship hopes to only three standing points. The German now has a 13 point lead over the Ferrari driver as they head into the last race of the season in Brazil.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Shiv Hamilton. He's been saying that he wanted one more win with McLaren before he leaves the team. He's been saying that he really wanted this one. He got it with a sterling drive, taking advantage of every and any opening given him by Seb Vettel, few they may have been. Nearly perfect.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: They only had one car finish the race, and they somehow lost the lead in the process, but Red Bull locked up the Constructor's Championship here at the United States Grand Prix. It's their third year running for the championship, and there's little doubt they really have joined the big names of the sport for good... or at least until Adrian Newey, designer of the Red Bull chassis, retires. And Seb Vettel has still got to be the favorite for the driver's championship.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: It may not have been the best pass of the weekend, but it was certainly the most important. On Lap 42, Lewis Hamilton had been reeling in Seb Vettel for nigh on 20 laps and finally had the opportunity to pass the Red Bull for the lead.
As they came down the long back straight, the McLaren driver had three advantages: first, he had a lovely tow from the Red Bull. Second, he had a higher top speed, and finally, he got to use his DRS.
None of this was going to make Seb Vettel just allow the Brit by; he gave a quick juke to the right before backing down... Vettel knew he had more important things to deal with than just this race, after all.
Still, if Vettel could have kept the McLaren in hand, he could have used the DRS trick on the next lap. He couldn't; by the time the detection zone came around on Lap 43, the lead was over a second and the McLaren was in the clear. This one pass cost Vettel seven championship points... if he loses the championship next week, you can point to this Move of the Race as the reason why.
*MOOOOOOOO-OOOOVE OF THE RACE: There really weren't any. Everybody did a fine job except for Jules Vergne breaking his suspension on a curb. So instead, I'm going to give this award to a pair of people... two fans who were very happy that Lewis Hamilton passed Seb Vettel. Two fans with absolutely no coordination whatsoever.
On world-wide television, with maybe 300 million people watching, you completely whiffed a high-five. Excellent. Have a Moo!
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
*BEFORE: Things looked bleak for HWMNBN. He qualified ninth behind Vettel's pole, and when Lotus' Lettuce Grosjean served his five grid-spot penalty, he got bumped up to eighth, but to the dirty side of the track. The consensus view was that trying to start on the dirty side would be similar to running in the wet: lousy. Some wags were even saying that being on the even-numbered side would immediately cost a driver four places at the start. And then Ferrari did something quite sneaky, quite legal, and very, very clever: they snipped the FIA seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox. You see, once a car begins Quals, it is in parc ferme condition and unable to have any changes done to it beyond the most basic (front wing angle changes, mostly). Things like engines, gearboxes and the like are sealed by the FIA with a lead... well, seal. If that seal is broken during parc ferme, there's an immediate penalty. This morning, Ferrari walked into the stewards' office and dropped the two chunks of seal on the desk. Of course, there was nothing to be done but give Felipe Massa a penalty... the team didn't even change the gearbox, they just broke the seal. Massa was dropped down to 11th, and HWMNBN was promoted to 7th place. On the clean side of the track. Somewhere, an evil genius is rubbing his hands together, cackling "excellent, excellent!" to himself. And wearing red.
*LIGHTS OUT: While being on the clean side of the track did not, in fact, immediately convey a four-spot advantage to those fortunate enough to reside there, it certainly helped HWMNBN. By the time he maneuvered his way up Phil Hill and Turn 1, he was in fourth. Meanwhile, McLaren's Shiv Hamilton, starting second on the dirty side of the grid, lost a place to Vettel's teammate Mark Webber... and at this point, we here at F1U! want to point out the greatest visual we've ever seen in Formula 1:
We've been expecting this ever since we saw the elevation map for the Circuit of the Americas, and we're glad the F1 camera team caught it. Now, Vettel and Webber in front set up the worst nightmare of the fan hoping for an exciting race: two Red Bulls galloping off into the sunset, and of course Seb Vettel began to pull away from his teammate. But Hamilton, knowing that he couldn't let the German get away if he wanted to win this race, pushed Webber hard.
*NOW IT'S A RACE!: It only took four laps for Hamilton to get past the Australian, and he immediately set off after the leader. There was about three seconds between the two, and for once, it was clear that the combination of Vettel and RB8 chassis wasn't, in fact, the best car/driver combo on the track. No, today it seemed that Hamilton and the McLaren MP4/27 was the class of the field, for he began to rip off fast lap after fast lap in his pursuit of the reigning world champion. By Lap 10, the lead was cut in half, to 1.5 seconds, with Webber 4.5 seconds behind Hamilton, and HWMNBN a further three seconds adrift and not making any headway on the Australian. However, nobody else could hold a candle to him as Nico Hulkenberg was nine seconds behind in fifth and fading.
*MARANELLO CHUCKLING: Considering that everybody was predicting a one-stop strategy, seeing cars beginning to make their way into the pits on Lap 14 had to be a surprise. What wasn't really surprising was the radio call to Mark Webber on Lap 16: "KERS has failed, KERS has failed." How many times have we heard Red Bull say that this year? Ferrari certainly began to get excited about that, and only got moreso when, a moment later, the Aussie pulled to the side of the circuit with a cascading electronics failure. This promoted HWMNBN into third place... but it was still early. Hamilton and the Ferrari pilot pitted on Lap 21, with Vettel doing the same on 22. Unsurprisingly, he kept his lead during his stop and when the rotation was over, everything remained the same: Vettel, Hamilton and farther back, HWMNBN.
*NO WAY!: While Hamilton kept on coming, it looked like he could get close, but couldn't make the move on the leader. The McLaren's advantage in top speed and parity in the twisty bits began to tell, so that by Lap 40, the gap between the two was down to 0.6 seconds, well within the DRS activation range. On Lap 42, the two encountered the HRT of Narain Kittylitter in the 'esses' and Vettel had some trouble getting around the backmarker, allowing Hamilton to close up even more. At this point, Vettel was complaining on the radio about Kittylitter slowing him up, none of which made any difference. As the leaders entered the DRS activation zone, the McLaren had a huge advantage in speed. Vettel made it difficult, maybe even stretching the rules as he kinda-sorta weaved a little bit as Hamilton closed in, but it made no difference: the RB8 was passed for the lead, and Maranello was suddenly going crazy.
*THE END: Hamilton quickly opened a 1.5 second lead over Vettel, who was over a half-minute ahead of HWMNBN, and for all intents and purposes, that's how the race ended. On the final lap, Vettel cut the lead to under a second, but couldn't get any closer and Shiv Hamilton, winner of the last US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, became the first winner of the US Grand Prix at Austin. Vettel came home in second place, with HWMNBN in third, minimizing the damage to his championship hopes to only three standing points. The German now has a 13 point lead over the Ferrari driver as they head into the last race of the season in Brazil.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Shiv Hamilton. He's been saying that he wanted one more win with McLaren before he leaves the team. He's been saying that he really wanted this one. He got it with a sterling drive, taking advantage of every and any opening given him by Seb Vettel, few they may have been. Nearly perfect.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: They only had one car finish the race, and they somehow lost the lead in the process, but Red Bull locked up the Constructor's Championship here at the United States Grand Prix. It's their third year running for the championship, and there's little doubt they really have joined the big names of the sport for good... or at least until Adrian Newey, designer of the Red Bull chassis, retires. And Seb Vettel has still got to be the favorite for the driver's championship.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: It may not have been the best pass of the weekend, but it was certainly the most important. On Lap 42, Lewis Hamilton had been reeling in Seb Vettel for nigh on 20 laps and finally had the opportunity to pass the Red Bull for the lead.
As they came down the long back straight, the McLaren driver had three advantages: first, he had a lovely tow from the Red Bull. Second, he had a higher top speed, and finally, he got to use his DRS.
None of this was going to make Seb Vettel just allow the Brit by; he gave a quick juke to the right before backing down... Vettel knew he had more important things to deal with than just this race, after all.
Still, if Vettel could have kept the McLaren in hand, he could have used the DRS trick on the next lap. He couldn't; by the time the detection zone came around on Lap 43, the lead was over a second and the McLaren was in the clear. This one pass cost Vettel seven championship points... if he loses the championship next week, you can point to this Move of the Race as the reason why.
*MOOOOOOOO-OOOOVE OF THE RACE: There really weren't any. Everybody did a fine job except for Jules Vergne breaking his suspension on a curb. So instead, I'm going to give this award to a pair of people... two fans who were very happy that Lewis Hamilton passed Seb Vettel. Two fans with absolutely no coordination whatsoever.
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
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USGP 2012 Race Notes
Right, it's race day in Austin! It's 71 degrees and sunny at the Circuit of the Americas, and Ferrari are playing tricks! Let's get to the pre-race stuff.
In an attempt to help HWMNBN's chance at the Championship, Ferrari has come up with something legal, but sneaky. Felipe Massa, who qualified ahead of the Spaniard, had to "change a gearbox" about two hours ago, and will take a five-spot grid penalty. As a result, HWMNBN will now start on the clean side of the track in 7th, not in 8th on the dirty. The team has actually come out and admitted that they've done this "for strategy considerations." Clever, very clever. Shame for Massa, who honestly couldn't have expected to be allowed to stay ahead of his teammate at any time. The drivers are saying that starting on the dirty side of the track is like starting on a wet track with slick tires. Look for HWMNBN to make quite the jump at the start. He has to if he wants to win a championship.
If he finishes worse than 5th and Vettel wins, the championship is over. There is no way that HWMNBN can win the championship today, unless Vettel gets injured and can't start in Brazil... and nobody wants that.
Now THAT'S a flyby: one F-16, one P-38, and two P-51s!
I'm gonna enjoy the race instead of writing anything about it. See ya with the F1U!
UPDATE: Now THAT'S how you do a race! If every USGP is gonna be like that one, F1 is gonna catch on here big-time!
In an attempt to help HWMNBN's chance at the Championship, Ferrari has come up with something legal, but sneaky. Felipe Massa, who qualified ahead of the Spaniard, had to "change a gearbox" about two hours ago, and will take a five-spot grid penalty. As a result, HWMNBN will now start on the clean side of the track in 7th, not in 8th on the dirty. The team has actually come out and admitted that they've done this "for strategy considerations." Clever, very clever. Shame for Massa, who honestly couldn't have expected to be allowed to stay ahead of his teammate at any time. The drivers are saying that starting on the dirty side of the track is like starting on a wet track with slick tires. Look for HWMNBN to make quite the jump at the start. He has to if he wants to win a championship.
If he finishes worse than 5th and Vettel wins, the championship is over. There is no way that HWMNBN can win the championship today, unless Vettel gets injured and can't start in Brazil... and nobody wants that.
Now THAT'S a flyby: one F-16, one P-38, and two P-51s!
I'm gonna enjoy the race instead of writing anything about it. See ya with the F1U!
UPDATE: Now THAT'S how you do a race! If every USGP is gonna be like that one, F1 is gonna catch on here big-time!
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November 17, 2012
F1 Quals: 2012 United States Grand Prix!
(PRE-SESSION) Here we are, with the first session that actually means something this weekend! Having said that, we don't know how much it means since the Circuit of the Americas is a brand new track. It could be that it's an awful racing circuit that encourages nothing but parades meaning that qualifying position is incredibly important... or it could be that it works so well that the winner can come from anywhere on the grid! We just don't know right now... but we will soon.
Here's what we DO know already: Lettuce Grosjean did indeed have to change his gearbox, meaning he's got a five gridspot penalty ahead of him.
Q1
Nobody pitted. The tires were so difficult to get heat into that everybody stayed out and just kept running and running and running... until Narain Kittylitter came to a stop just off track at Turn 2, probably out of fuel. This brought out a yellow flag, meaning that it was going to be very difficult for drivers to improve their positions. For most this was okay, but it meant that Nico Rosberg needed a heckuva lap to get himself into Q2... he got it, but only just: he finished 17th.
Those eliminated, from 18th down: Daniel Ricciardo, Tim O'Glockenspiel, Charles ToothPic, The Red Menace, Heikki Kovaleinninninnie, Pete Rose and Narain Kittylitter.
Both HRTs came in under the 107% rule, so they get to race on Sunday without begging the stewards for permission.
Q2
Nobody pitted again... except for Jenson Button. He "lost the power, lost the power" with three minutes and a full track to go, and somehow managed to limp back to the pits. When he made it to the pits, he was 8th on the board. By the time the session was over, he was bumped to 12th and out of Quals altogether. SPEED managed to catch the team working on something at the front of the car (throttle pedals?) just before Quals began, and McLaren's engineers dove right for the same spot on the car when it came to a stop.
Those eliminated from 11th down to 17th: Bruno Senna, Jenson Button, Paul diResta, Jules Vergne, Sergio Perez, Gandalf Kobayashi, and Nico Rosberg.
Q3
AGAIN nobody pits. Heck, for all we know, some drivers were still on the same tires they used in Q2. Nobody broke down, nobody ran out of fuel, and Vettel just embarrassed the field. The Top 10 (before penalties) are:
1) Seb Vettel 2) Shiv Hamilton 3) Mark Webber 4) Lettuce Grosjean 5) Mumbles Raikkonen 6) Slappy Schumacher 7) Felipe Massa 8) Nico Hulkenberg 9) HWMNBN 10) Pastor Maldonado
Amazingly, this is Vettel's 100th Grand Prix, and his 36th pole. Good lord. This is a terrible result if you're rooting for HWMNBN; ninth is horrible. Two places behind your teammate is even worse... and this is a guy driving for the Championship! Then again, Vettel has completely dominated this race weekend, so it's not exactly a surprise that he's gotta be the favorite tomorrow.
Right, the 2012 United States Grand Prix will be on Sunday, with the F1Update! coming sometime thereafter... we might have some in-race comments, too. We will see you tomorrow!
Here's what we DO know already: Lettuce Grosjean did indeed have to change his gearbox, meaning he's got a five gridspot penalty ahead of him.
Q1
Nobody pitted. The tires were so difficult to get heat into that everybody stayed out and just kept running and running and running... until Narain Kittylitter came to a stop just off track at Turn 2, probably out of fuel. This brought out a yellow flag, meaning that it was going to be very difficult for drivers to improve their positions. For most this was okay, but it meant that Nico Rosberg needed a heckuva lap to get himself into Q2... he got it, but only just: he finished 17th.
Those eliminated, from 18th down: Daniel Ricciardo, Tim O'Glockenspiel, Charles ToothPic, The Red Menace, Heikki Kovaleinninninnie, Pete Rose and Narain Kittylitter.
Both HRTs came in under the 107% rule, so they get to race on Sunday without begging the stewards for permission.
Q2
Nobody pitted again... except for Jenson Button. He "lost the power, lost the power" with three minutes and a full track to go, and somehow managed to limp back to the pits. When he made it to the pits, he was 8th on the board. By the time the session was over, he was bumped to 12th and out of Quals altogether. SPEED managed to catch the team working on something at the front of the car (throttle pedals?) just before Quals began, and McLaren's engineers dove right for the same spot on the car when it came to a stop.
Those eliminated from 11th down to 17th: Bruno Senna, Jenson Button, Paul diResta, Jules Vergne, Sergio Perez, Gandalf Kobayashi, and Nico Rosberg.
Q3
AGAIN nobody pits. Heck, for all we know, some drivers were still on the same tires they used in Q2. Nobody broke down, nobody ran out of fuel, and Vettel just embarrassed the field. The Top 10 (before penalties) are:
1) Seb Vettel 2) Shiv Hamilton 3) Mark Webber 4) Lettuce Grosjean 5) Mumbles Raikkonen 6) Slappy Schumacher 7) Felipe Massa 8) Nico Hulkenberg 9) HWMNBN 10) Pastor Maldonado
Amazingly, this is Vettel's 100th Grand Prix, and his 36th pole. Good lord. This is a terrible result if you're rooting for HWMNBN; ninth is horrible. Two places behind your teammate is even worse... and this is a guy driving for the Championship! Then again, Vettel has completely dominated this race weekend, so it's not exactly a surprise that he's gotta be the favorite tomorrow.
Right, the 2012 United States Grand Prix will be on Sunday, with the F1Update! coming sometime thereafter... we might have some in-race comments, too. We will see you tomorrow!
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F1 United States Practice 3: Liveblogging!
(PRE-SESSION) So here we are again! It's 45 degrees and sunny at the Circuit of the Americas, looking for a high of 68. That's a little cooler than F1 tires like, but it's certainly good enough. In any case, Practice 3 is only 60 minutes in length, as opposed to the usual 90. I'll be using the time remaining as the time notation: if you
see (45:30), that means 14.5 minutes have gone by in the session.
Read from (60:00). Please keep all extremities inside the blog at all times. Wonderduck's Pond is not responsible for any injuries incurred in the reading of Wonderduck's Pond. Post no bills. Accept no substitutes!
(60:00) Look, we've gone green on Saturday! First out is Gandalf Kobayashi on SPEED's streaming site.
(57:52) Wow, 60000 people at COTA yesterday, 80000 expected today? There are a dozen actual races that don't get that many spectators on the calendar!
(55:37) Sebby Vettel very nearly pranged his car in the pit lane. Whoopsy!
(53:55) Narain Kittylitter is third on the time sheets as SPEED goes to commercial... that might be the first time I've ever seen his picture on the screen during a session. At least, on the "first page," not at the end.
(50:11) Just a picture, nothing really happening.
Kimi at the far end of the esses.
The rest will be below the fold.
more...
(60:00) Look, we've gone green on Saturday! First out is Gandalf Kobayashi on SPEED's streaming site.
(57:52) Wow, 60000 people at COTA yesterday, 80000 expected today? There are a dozen actual races that don't get that many spectators on the calendar!
(55:37) Sebby Vettel very nearly pranged his car in the pit lane. Whoopsy!
(53:55) Narain Kittylitter is third on the time sheets as SPEED goes to commercial... that might be the first time I've ever seen his picture on the screen during a session. At least, on the "first page," not at the end.
(50:11) Just a picture, nothing really happening.
Kimi at the far end of the esses.
The rest will be below the fold.
more...
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November 16, 2012
F1 Practice 2: United States!
There are moments in time where I wish I didn't know as much backstory to things F1-related. One of those moments occurred during Practice 2, with about 34 minutes left. The Legendary Announce Team was bickering amongst themselves, mostly Matchett and Hobbs giving The Varsha grief about his focus on someone reaching the 200mph point for the first time. Finally, The Varsha plaintively said "C'mon guys, work with me... there's not much time left." I get the feeling that he wasn't just talking about the practice session.
In that practice session, we saw a lot of running by everybody but Seb Vettel and the two HRTs. The Spanish team is having financial difficulties, and stopped short of saying that they weren't running because of that. If you've got $40million lying around, you can buy the team! And if you do, let me know... I'd very much like to talk to you about a Wonderduck's Pond sponsorship sticker somewhere. I'd also like to know just how the heck you can afford $40million and you haven't mentioned it before this... but back to F1. Seb Vettel missed a good chunk of the session with his car up on jacks, leaking coolant fluid from its KERS unit. As the Legendary Announce Team pointed out, if you were going to have a problem, this was a good one to have because Mark Webber had the exact same problem at Abu Dhabi. The team already knew how to deal with it! It still took most of the session, but Vettel still had enough time on track to break the 1:37 barrier, ending the day with a 1:37.718, almost three-quarters of a second faster than Webber and HWMNBN, and over a second ahead of the two McLarens. Yeeeeeesh.
I'm going to gush a bit more about the Circuit of the Americas now. We may not get a good race on Sunday, seeing how Vettel is looking like he's got a JATO unit stuck up his backside, but it won't be because of the track. I'm already convinced that it's the best new-style circuit on the calendar, and it matches places like Montreal and Suzuka. It may even move into the Silverstone/Spa level of racetrack if we get a good race on Sunday. I'm probably overrating it because it's an American track, but I'll be darned if it isn't just perfect.
Baby. P3 tomorrow at 9am, I'll be livebloggin' that. Quals at noon, and I have no idea what I'm doing for it! How do you liveblog quals??? See you tomorrow!
In that practice session, we saw a lot of running by everybody but Seb Vettel and the two HRTs. The Spanish team is having financial difficulties, and stopped short of saying that they weren't running because of that. If you've got $40million lying around, you can buy the team! And if you do, let me know... I'd very much like to talk to you about a Wonderduck's Pond sponsorship sticker somewhere. I'd also like to know just how the heck you can afford $40million and you haven't mentioned it before this... but back to F1. Seb Vettel missed a good chunk of the session with his car up on jacks, leaking coolant fluid from its KERS unit. As the Legendary Announce Team pointed out, if you were going to have a problem, this was a good one to have because Mark Webber had the exact same problem at Abu Dhabi. The team already knew how to deal with it! It still took most of the session, but Vettel still had enough time on track to break the 1:37 barrier, ending the day with a 1:37.718, almost three-quarters of a second faster than Webber and HWMNBN, and over a second ahead of the two McLarens. Yeeeeeesh.
I'm going to gush a bit more about the Circuit of the Americas now. We may not get a good race on Sunday, seeing how Vettel is looking like he's got a JATO unit stuck up his backside, but it won't be because of the track. I'm already convinced that it's the best new-style circuit on the calendar, and it matches places like Montreal and Suzuka. It may even move into the Silverstone/Spa level of racetrack if we get a good race on Sunday. I'm probably overrating it because it's an American track, but I'll be darned if it isn't just perfect.
Baby. P3 tomorrow at 9am, I'll be livebloggin' that. Quals at noon, and I have no idea what I'm doing for it! How do you liveblog quals??? See you tomorrow!
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F1 United States Practice 1: Liveblogging!
(PRE-SESSION) The day has finally come. In just a short while, we will see actual F1 cars running on Austin's Circuit of the Americas. Of course, it's all just a run-up to the actual United States Grand Prix on Sunday, but we'll be happy with this right now.
As in the past liveblogging sessions, this session is 90 minutes in length. I'll be using the time remaining as the time notation: if you see (1:02:30), that means 27.5 minutes have gone by in the session. Read from (1:30:00). Do not taunt kimiraikkonen. If kimiraikkonen begins to smoke, seek shelter and cover head. Kimiraikkonen may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. Accept no substitutes!
(1:30:00) The track is open! The first man officially to enter the circuit is... Tim O'Glockenspiel? Rock on!
(1:26:55) Felipe Massa: "I'ts very slippery track, very slippery." Well, yeah.
(1:25:53) Oh no... The Legendary Announce Team is going to call Turn 1 "Phil Hill." Shoot me now.
(1:23:30) Nico Hulkenberg: "It's worse than rain... it's like the tires aren't even turning, it's so slippery."
(1:22:44) What's Phil Hill look like from the cockpit?
Yeah, kinda like that... haven't quite reached the apex. Track? What track? It just sorta disappears.
The rest will be below the fold.
more...
As in the past liveblogging sessions, this session is 90 minutes in length. I'll be using the time remaining as the time notation: if you see (1:02:30), that means 27.5 minutes have gone by in the session. Read from (1:30:00). Do not taunt kimiraikkonen. If kimiraikkonen begins to smoke, seek shelter and cover head. Kimiraikkonen may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. Accept no substitutes!
(1:30:00) The track is open! The first man officially to enter the circuit is... Tim O'Glockenspiel? Rock on!
(1:26:55) Felipe Massa: "I'ts very slippery track, very slippery." Well, yeah.
(1:25:53) Oh no... The Legendary Announce Team is going to call Turn 1 "Phil Hill." Shoot me now.
(1:23:30) Nico Hulkenberg: "It's worse than rain... it's like the tires aren't even turning, it's so slippery."
(1:22:44) What's Phil Hill look like from the cockpit?
Yeah, kinda like that... haven't quite reached the apex. Track? What track? It just sorta disappears.
The rest will be below the fold.
more...
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November 14, 2012
Trying Not To Pee Myself With Excitement
Just look at that. I'm giggling just thinking about what's going to happen when the lights go out on Sunday.
If I'm not wrong, this shot seems to be from the inside of Turn 14 looking across at Turn 1. My word, this is gonna be fun!
Just look at that. I'm giggling just thinking about what's going to happen when the lights go out on Sunday.
If I'm not wrong, this shot seems to be from the inside of Turn 14 looking across at Turn 1. My word, this is gonna be fun!
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November 13, 2012
Aw, Crap On A Stick...
Steven had a stroke the other night.
'Round these here parts, there ain't nobody happy 'bout this. Get better soonest, Steven!
'Round these here parts, there ain't nobody happy 'bout this. Get better soonest, Steven!
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November 12, 2012
F1 on SPEED!: UNITED STATES! WOO! FINALLY!
The debut of a new track is always the highlight of a Formula 1 season. But when it's a new track located in the United States after five years away? Oh yes, very yes, much yes, yes please! Let's take a look at the track map for the 2012 United States Grand Prix:
First off, you know what this isn't? It isn't a usual design of the evil Hermann Tilke. This is from the good side of Tilke... the Dr Tilke to the designer of Abu Dhabi's Mr Hermann. It also isn't flat, which may have had something to do with the success of the track design. With a maximum elevation change of 133 feet, pretty much second only to Spa-Francopants, the layout is proving to be awfully darn dynamic. Here's a video of a lap of the layout:
We already know about Turn 1, the blind apex of which is the highest point on the track. It then immediately drops back down somewhat on the approach to Turn 2 and stays flat through to about Turn 7. You then go up and down a smidge until you reach the hairpin at the far end of the circuit. There's a small amount of down and up on the long straight, but it stays billiard-table-smooth from there until Turn 18. From 18 to the final turn is a gentle downslope taking us down to the lowest point, the start/finish line. Me likey. Me likey lots.
I probably like it because of the way that Tilke blatantly stole the best parts of other circuits to make this one. The two obvious examples are the Turn 3-4-5 complex, which is lifted from Silverstone's Maggots-Becketts-Chapel, and the rebirth of Turkey's Quad-8 at 16-17-18 here. I'm willing to bet that every F1 fan has put together a "dream circuit" using their favorite turns from various tracks (mine has a nasty, nasty sequence of Spa's Eau Rouge leading to Laguna Seca's Corkscrew... I call it the "Screw Eau")... Hermann Tilke just got to build his.
The hard part is trying to figure out just how the circuit will race, and it's a problem that every team is going to have to figure out, and fast. My guess, and it's only a guess based on nothing more than a visual similarity, is that it'll be like India; really fast, but without as much dust. It's clear that nobody has the faintest idea; Pirelli probably has the most experience here, and they're bringing the Hard and Medium compounds. That's the most conservative choice they can make, and it's simply because nobody knows what'll happen once you get 24 cars pounding around leaving rubber behind. In fact, Pirelli has given the teams an extra set of tires for Friday, to encourage them to go out and pound around the circuit even more than they normally would. Pirelli also believes that the asphalt is abrasive enough to call for the two hardest compounds... my guess is that next year, we'll see the Hard and Soft tires here.
Unless it rains. If it rains, of course, all bets are off and all we'll be able to do is buckle up and hold on. NOAA is saying that there's a 20% chance of rain Saturday and Sunday. For once, I don't want it to rain on raceday: I wanna see this track the way it's meant to be raced.
And who will be bringing us all of the action but the Legendary Announce Team! Let's give them their due, since this is pretty much the last time we'll see them all together, not counting Brazil, which I avoid doing at all times...
To me, these three are the voices of Formula 1. They were the men that taught me the basics of the sport, then taught me more than that... they taught me how to be a fan. While that fandom waxes and wanes during the year, it never falters. It's pretty much a perfect lineup: Steve Matchett, the Constructor's Championship-winning pitlane mechanic; David Hobbs, named by the FIA as one of the 27 best drivers in the world in 1969, with seven career F1 starts, 20 LeMans green flags, Can-Am, Indy 500, even a couple of NASCAR starts (and a Honda car dealership in Milwaukee); and Bob Varsha, a professional broadcaster who has been covering Formula 1 on television since 1986. We're unlikely to ever see and hear this trio together after this season ends, so let me say it now:
Thank you, Legendary Announce Team. Thank you very much.
Here's SPEED's broadcast schedule for Austin, all live on TV:
FRIDAY
P1: 9a - 1030a
P2: 1p - 230p
SATURDAY
P3: 9a - 10a
Quals: 12n - 130p
SUNDAY
2012 United States Grand Prix: 1230p - 3p
They'll also be streaming live in-car cameras on the website, so watch with your laptop open and running... I will be! I've taken Friday off from the Duck U Bookstore, and will be positioned on the couch watching it all as it happens (and I'm considering buying a new TV for it, too)... see you then!
First off, you know what this isn't? It isn't a usual design of the evil Hermann Tilke. This is from the good side of Tilke... the Dr Tilke to the designer of Abu Dhabi's Mr Hermann. It also isn't flat, which may have had something to do with the success of the track design. With a maximum elevation change of 133 feet, pretty much second only to Spa-Francopants, the layout is proving to be awfully darn dynamic. Here's a video of a lap of the layout:
I probably like it because of the way that Tilke blatantly stole the best parts of other circuits to make this one. The two obvious examples are the Turn 3-4-5 complex, which is lifted from Silverstone's Maggots-Becketts-Chapel, and the rebirth of Turkey's Quad-8 at 16-17-18 here. I'm willing to bet that every F1 fan has put together a "dream circuit" using their favorite turns from various tracks (mine has a nasty, nasty sequence of Spa's Eau Rouge leading to Laguna Seca's Corkscrew... I call it the "Screw Eau")... Hermann Tilke just got to build his.
The hard part is trying to figure out just how the circuit will race, and it's a problem that every team is going to have to figure out, and fast. My guess, and it's only a guess based on nothing more than a visual similarity, is that it'll be like India; really fast, but without as much dust. It's clear that nobody has the faintest idea; Pirelli probably has the most experience here, and they're bringing the Hard and Medium compounds. That's the most conservative choice they can make, and it's simply because nobody knows what'll happen once you get 24 cars pounding around leaving rubber behind. In fact, Pirelli has given the teams an extra set of tires for Friday, to encourage them to go out and pound around the circuit even more than they normally would. Pirelli also believes that the asphalt is abrasive enough to call for the two hardest compounds... my guess is that next year, we'll see the Hard and Soft tires here.
Unless it rains. If it rains, of course, all bets are off and all we'll be able to do is buckle up and hold on. NOAA is saying that there's a 20% chance of rain Saturday and Sunday. For once, I don't want it to rain on raceday: I wanna see this track the way it's meant to be raced.
And who will be bringing us all of the action but the Legendary Announce Team! Let's give them their due, since this is pretty much the last time we'll see them all together, not counting Brazil, which I avoid doing at all times...
To me, these three are the voices of Formula 1. They were the men that taught me the basics of the sport, then taught me more than that... they taught me how to be a fan. While that fandom waxes and wanes during the year, it never falters. It's pretty much a perfect lineup: Steve Matchett, the Constructor's Championship-winning pitlane mechanic; David Hobbs, named by the FIA as one of the 27 best drivers in the world in 1969, with seven career F1 starts, 20 LeMans green flags, Can-Am, Indy 500, even a couple of NASCAR starts (and a Honda car dealership in Milwaukee); and Bob Varsha, a professional broadcaster who has been covering Formula 1 on television since 1986. We're unlikely to ever see and hear this trio together after this season ends, so let me say it now:
Thank you, Legendary Announce Team. Thank you very much.
Here's SPEED's broadcast schedule for Austin, all live on TV:
FRIDAY
P1: 9a - 1030a
P2: 1p - 230p
SATURDAY
P3: 9a - 10a
Quals: 12n - 130p
SUNDAY
2012 United States Grand Prix: 1230p - 3p
They'll also be streaming live in-car cameras on the website, so watch with your laptop open and running... I will be! I've taken Friday off from the Duck U Bookstore, and will be positioned on the couch watching it all as it happens (and I'm considering buying a new TV for it, too)... see you then!
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November 11, 2012
Veterans Day 2012
To those who are or have served, thank you. Without you, we couldn't do the goofy stuff we do today.
To those who are or have served, thank you. Without you, we couldn't do the goofy stuff we do today.
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November 10, 2012
I'm On A Horse
I've been playing Skyrim again. This is my horse, Shadowmere.
As you can tell by the glowing eyes, Shadowmere is kind of a badarse. I've seen him go head-first into a dragon's breath, come out the other side on fire, and start kicking all sorts of dragon butt. There's another talent Shadowmere has, however... one that's much more valuable.
more...
As you can tell by the glowing eyes, Shadowmere is kind of a badarse. I've seen him go head-first into a dragon's breath, come out the other side on fire, and start kicking all sorts of dragon butt. There's another talent Shadowmere has, however... one that's much more valuable.
more...
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November 08, 2012
A Nightly Walk
What have we here, thought Mouse as he saw the figure stroll by. It was a dark night, but there was enough light from the tavern windows to see that the... man? Woman?... was well-dressed in a foreign style. Perfect, nobody local will miss... him, Mouse decided as he slipped away from the tavern and through the shadows. Mouse wasn't the best thief in the world, but he was plenty good. Good enough to take this guy without having to work hard. He's not even paying attention... well, his loss is my gain, he said to himself. He had given himself the nickname "Mouse" a long time ago, because his mother had thought that "Marei" was a nice name for a boy. That he could scurry through the darkness like an small rodent helped with the nickname, too. He'd made a good living taking pouches and wallets in the Dark Quarter of the City, and often enough further up The Hill too. That's where he got the blade he now loosened in its scabbard, the blade that his appraiser friend told him was part skymetal. Not the whole thing, but from the point maybe an inch down was coaxed out of a rock that fell from where the stars were. Mouse supposed his friend was telling the truth; he'd offered 200 gold and a Forestling Knife in exchange, after all. Two hundred would have made for a good month or two, Mouse smiled, or one helluva weekend.
Mouse had worked his way down an alley and gotten past the foreigner now, and taken position in a dark alcove. He's totally lost in his own world. Maybe a scholar? They're supposed to be absent-minded, snickered Mouse. I'll be teaching him a lesson in a moment. He pulled the knife out and waited for the scholar to walk by, all the while holding his breath. A moment later, he struck, the knife easily slipping through the expensive-looking robe and into the heart underneath. This surprised Mouse not at all. On those fortunately uncommon times he'd had to fight his way out of a blown heist, the skymetal blade had shown that it could punch through steel armor as easily as it could slice cheese. Even that Darneshhi cheese, the one with the chewy crust-like thing on it, that'd be tasty for dinner... maybe Scholar here will have a purse big enough. Hey, did it get warm all of a sud... Mouse's skeleton flared brightly, incinerating him from the inside-out as the skymetal blade turned a glowing white before it, too, disappeared from the searing heat.
Ow, that hurt, crossed the mind of the well-dressed mage. More than it did the last time someone snuck up on me, come to think of it... magic blade, maybe? The damaged flesh does seem to be knitting back together a little slower than normal... well, no matter. Where was I? The mage continued his nightly stroll. He was sure S'nleen would berate him for not paying better attention to his surroundings, but when he got to thinking like that ...and what thoughts they were. Where does magic come from, anyway? Every wizard, spellcaster, parlor mage or farmer with a nasty disposition towards rats thought the question at least once in their lives, but I might actually be able to find the answer.
The night's walk lasted a very long time.
Mouse had worked his way down an alley and gotten past the foreigner now, and taken position in a dark alcove. He's totally lost in his own world. Maybe a scholar? They're supposed to be absent-minded, snickered Mouse. I'll be teaching him a lesson in a moment. He pulled the knife out and waited for the scholar to walk by, all the while holding his breath. A moment later, he struck, the knife easily slipping through the expensive-looking robe and into the heart underneath. This surprised Mouse not at all. On those fortunately uncommon times he'd had to fight his way out of a blown heist, the skymetal blade had shown that it could punch through steel armor as easily as it could slice cheese. Even that Darneshhi cheese, the one with the chewy crust-like thing on it, that'd be tasty for dinner... maybe Scholar here will have a purse big enough. Hey, did it get warm all of a sud... Mouse's skeleton flared brightly, incinerating him from the inside-out as the skymetal blade turned a glowing white before it, too, disappeared from the searing heat.
Ow, that hurt, crossed the mind of the well-dressed mage. More than it did the last time someone snuck up on me, come to think of it... magic blade, maybe? The damaged flesh does seem to be knitting back together a little slower than normal... well, no matter. Where was I? The mage continued his nightly stroll. He was sure S'nleen would berate him for not paying better attention to his surroundings, but when he got to thinking like that ...and what thoughts they were. Where does magic come from, anyway? Every wizard, spellcaster, parlor mage or farmer with a nasty disposition towards rats thought the question at least once in their lives, but I might actually be able to find the answer.
The night's walk lasted a very long time.
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November 07, 2012
Inventory... Yay?
Inventory is over and done with. While we won't know the official numbers for about two weeks, preliminary reports are that it didn't suck.
My regular irregular blogginating will resume Thursday. More or less.
My regular irregular blogginating will resume Thursday. More or less.
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November 06, 2012
A Major Milestone
While the American people go forth and vote for their choice of either a head of cabbage or a... head of cabbage, something truly important occurred today... to whit:
That's the DuckMobile's odometer at roughly 6pm this evening. A 1996 Toyota Camry with 111111 miles on it? Heck, I'm going to have to drive a stake through its engine block and bury it at a cloverleaf interchange to see it go away.
Okay everybody, go back to watching the news to see which head of cabbage wins.
That's the DuckMobile's odometer at roughly 6pm this evening. A 1996 Toyota Camry with 111111 miles on it? Heck, I'm going to have to drive a stake through its engine block and bury it at a cloverleaf interchange to see it go away.
Okay everybody, go back to watching the news to see which head of cabbage wins.
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Inventory! Yay!
We've got inventory at the Duck U Bookstore this afternoon and tomorrow. Yay?
You may not see me until Thursday.
You may not see me until Thursday.
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November 04, 2012
F1 Update!: 2012 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
The sun was beginning to set over the Yas Marina Circuit as 22 cars took to the grid, and two took to the end of the pit lane, in preparation for today's race. A sense of excitement was nearly palpable amongst the fans, both at home and the 40000 in the stands, thanks to the demotion of Seb Vettel... this race was wide open, and everybody knew it. As a result, the Driver's Championship standings were also up for grabs again. But how did everything shake out in the end? THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2012 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi.
*LIGHTS OUT: It's a long run to the first, left-handed, corner at Abu Dhabi, which gives plenty of time for... things, both good and bad, to occur as the Thundering Herd makes its way there, and we had plenty of both today. To begin with, Mark Webber, starting 2nd, had one of his patented Mark Webber Lousy Start©s to the race, allowing both Hakham Maldonado and Kimi Raikkonen to quickly get past, and Jenson Button to slip by moments later. Indeed, Raikkonen took the opportunity to also get by the Williams of Maldonado to take second place and begin to race after polesitter Lewis Hamilton. Further back, four midpackers tried to side-by-side through Turn 1, a trick which never works in any form of motorsports. Nico Hulkenberg's Force India wound up being craned off, Lettuce Grosjean had a puncture, and Bruno Senna's Williams... suffered nothing visible from a rather hard clout. Back up at the front of the field, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, racing for his Driver's Championship chances, outraced Webber for fourth place down the second back straight. When the field crossed the line for the first time, the order was Hamilton, Raikkonen, Maldonado, Alonso, Webber, and Button. Further back, Red Bull's Seb Vettel was 20th with a damaged front wing and beginning his long climb up the field.
*CALM BEFORE THE STORM: After an action-packed first lap, everything settled down, at least up front. To be sure, there was jockeying as Alonso hounded Maldonado for third, but nothing up front changed. There had to be a portion of everybody minds, however, that was curious what the Drivers' Championship leader was doing. "Working his way through the field" is what he was doing. By Lap 4 he was 16th. Lap 7 saw him claw his way up to 14th, and by the end of Lap 8 he was 13th. All was not wine and roses, though. The front wing damage was severe enough that Adrian Newey, designer of the RB8 and member of the Red Bull pit wall, was seen inspecting a spare nose, obviously checking to see what sort of structural stability the damaged wing had left... and not looking all that happy with what his mental tallies came up with.
*F1 DODGES A BULLET: Nico Rosberg had to be cursing his luck. He had started seventh, but broke his front wing against Lettuce Grosjean's Lotus and needed to pit at the end of the first lap. Now he was working his way back up the field and closing fast on the HRT of Narain Kittylitter as they worked their way through the twiddlybits of Sector Three. As the two came down the sole fast patch in the Sector through the dog-leg Turn 15, the Mercedes was well-positioned close behind the HRT to outbrake it into 17, or overpower it through 16. A thin wisp of smoke was seen issuing from Kittylitter's car, though, and the Indian suddenly slowed at a dramatic clip. Surprised, there was nothing Rosberg could do.
The Mercedes climbed right overtop of the HRT, its right-rear corner not taking Kittylitter's head off by only a few inches. After clearing the remains of the backmarker, the Mercedes flew a few more yards before settling back to the track with quite a bit of violence.
Rosberg would slide into the TecPro barriers at a speed seemingly unreduced from before the impact. Fortunately, both drivers would exit their cars unaided and with some speed. Neither were obviously injured, though Rosberg will probably be sore in the morning. Nearly before the Mercedes stopped moving, the Safety Car was called out and Berndt Maylander began to do his thing.
*SAFETY? CAR: During a Safety Car period, you usually see a rush of cars heading for the pit lane. Today, not so much. In fact, the top 10 runners stayed firmly on circuit, fearing the loss of track position would be impossible to make up as Yas Marina is notoriously hard to pass on. Even Seb Vettel, now in 12th place but with a damaged front wing, seemed loath to come in... until the decision was made for him. As he horked the car left and right to keep his tires and brakes warm, the Toro Rosso in front of him did the same, but out of sequence with the Red Bull driver. In effect, when Vettel was accelerating, the Toro Rosso was braking. On Lap 13, the asynchronicity proved to be too much and Vettel had to take evasive action... at a part of the track where he was not alone.
Fortunately, the trackside DRS notifier is made out of styrofoam for just this reason, but the RB8 was going fast enough that the impact broke off another chunk of the already-damaged front wing. The team immediately told him to pit, and suddenly Vettel was back in 21st place.
*GREEN GREEN GREEN: At the end of the lap, the Safety Car came back in, and Vettel spent the next five laps climbing his way back up to 14th place while the top five was Hamilton, Raikkonen, Maldonado, Alonso and Webber. While back in the backfield there was some action (see Move of the Race), up front it looked like Hamilton had the race solidly in hand. Raikkonen couldn't close on him, and nobody could close on the Lotus driver. The only question was how much damage control Vettel could execute for his Drivers Championship chances.
*WE SPOKE TOO SOON: And then Lewis Hamilton was seen coasting to a stop in the grass.
The team later said it was a fuel pressure problem and Hamilton said it just happened instantly... first it was going great guns, then the engine was completely cold and quiet. In any case, the leader had just withdrawn from the race, ceding first place to the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. A half-lap later, Fernando Alonso passed Maldonado for second place and sent his Ferrari off in pursuit of the 2007 World Driving Champion. With Hamilton's retirement from the race, he was also eliminated from the 2012 chase for the Championship as well. At the end of Lap 26, Kimi Raikkonen led Fernando Alonso by 6.5 seconds, followed by Jenson Button, Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber... and Sebastian Vettel.
*LET THE PITSTOPS BEGIN: The Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi is a 55-lap race. Despite starting on the soft Option tires, which theoretically shouldn't be able to last very long, the first of the heavy hitters (Vettel excepted, but his was a special case) still hadn't stopped by Lap 28. To be sure, there'd been a long Safety Car period, but even given that, the tires had to have been going off soon. On Lap 29, Fernando Alonso made the first move, pitting from second and shifting onto the medium-compound Prime tires, obviously going for a one-stop strategy. The team knew that the race was still up for grabs and they wanted to give their man the best chance possible to win it: Alonso was stopped for only 2.7 seconds. Over the next couple of laps everybody but Raikkonen and Vettel stopped for tires, giving us the incredible standings of Raikkonen, Vettel, Alonso, Button and Senna. Vettel had picked up 22 places in 31 laps, and if Lotus didn't service their man cleanly, had a chance to be in the lead! Kimi came in on Lap 32 with a nearly 23-second lead.
He came out in first, but not by a whole heckuvalot. The thought amongst the F1U! team was that Vettel would have to pit again, that 40 laps would be too far for the Prime tires to go, even with Vettel driving... which brings up an interesting strategy dilemma. If the RB8 pitted, he'd throw away any chance, small though it may be, for a race victory, but on fresh Option tires, he could make up a lot of time and positions quickly. OR, he could push the old Prime tires for the remaining 23 laps and have a shot at winning... or dropping down the field if the tires fell off the cliff. An interesting dilemma, and earlier in the season the decision would be an awfully tough one to make. In Race 18, with Vettel not needing a victory, however, the choice was easy. Red Bull brought in their man on Lap 38, and he fell to 4th place, behind Raikkonen, Alonso, and Button. He then got some help.
*AGAIN WITH THE SAFETY CAR: When you get a number of cars gathered together that all have roughly the same performance, things can get a little dicey if the drivers aren't all of superb skill levels. On Lap 38, Paul Di Resta, Sergio Perez and Lettuce Grosjean were all dicing for fifth place, with Mark Webber hovering closely behind the three. Di Resta attacked Grosjean, which gave Perez a chance to try passing around the outside of Turn 11. However, the Force India cut the corner of Turn 13, sending the Sauber into the run-off area on the outside. When he returned to the track, he found the Lotus of Grosjean there and the two made sharp contact. Perez was tipped into a spin, Lettuce's front suspension was shattered, and his car staggered across the track.
The Red Bull of Mark Webber had no place to go. His right rear wheel was ripped clean off, taking the rear wing with it. While he skidded to a halt in the grass off-track, and Perez was able to limp to the pits, Lettuce's Lotus died on the racing line. Berndt Maylander was duly summoned, and suddenly any lead Raikkonen had over Alonso, Button and yes, Vettel, was gone.
*ENDGAME: When the Safety Car period ended, the standings were Raikkonen, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Maldonado, Gandalf Kobayashi, Massa, Senna, Jules Vergne, and Paul diResta. Kimi had a great restart and began to pull away from the Ferrari, by Lap 50 opening a 2.129 second lead. But Alonso, aware that Button was probably going to fall to Vettel, began to push Kimi hard. The lead began to drop lap by lap. On Lap 53, Vettel got past Button, and Alonso had cut the lead to 1.384 seconds. As the Finn and the Spaniard crossed the start/finish line on Lap 54, the lead was less than a second, but somehow opened to 1.090 seconds when they crossed the DRS line... just a smidge too far apart to allow the use of the speed-boosting device. Finally, on the last lap, the Ferrari got to use the DRS, but was too far back to make it really count. Alonso was driving his car on the limit, almost drifting through the final few turns in his last desperate attempts to catch up to the leader. To no avail. Kimi Raikkonen brought his Lotus across the finish line for his first win since he unretired, just .805 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was four seconds ahead of a hard-charging Seb Vettel in third, completing a remarkable drive, and bringing the Race of the Year to an end.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Any other race, Kimi Raikkonen would be the obvious choice. Retired for three years and earning a win in his first season back? Yeah, that'd be enough for a Driver of the Race award... usually. Not today. Seb Vettel started from the pit lane, worked his way up the field, fell back to 20th, then worked his way up the field again to finish on the podium, just behind his main competition for the Drivers Championship. He limited the damage to his lead to just three points, earning 15 to Alonso's 18. The possibility existed that he'd lose it all today... that he didn't can only be credited to great driving and good luck. Drive of the race for sure.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: Lotus. Finally.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: This was a wild one. On Lap 16, the order was Charles ToothPic in 17th, then Grosjean, Vettel and Di Resta in 20th as they came down the long long back straight. Everybody but ToothPic could use the DRS, and Lettuce and Vettel decided to make their moves at the same time.
As one would expect, the Lotus and the Red Bull made it past the Marussia, though it did require some late braking on the part of Vettel going into the chicane to the second long straight.
It then became a straight drag race to Turn 11.
Vettel managed to outrun Lettuce, while Di Resta caught and passed ToothPic, and nearly the Lotus as well. All four of them get to share in the MotR for making it happen without wrecking. Good job everybody!
*MOOOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: We still don't know just what happened between Mark Webber and Felipe Massa on Lap 26. It looked like Webber passed Massa, the two touched, Webber left the track and when he returned, it spooked the Brazilian.
It seems ridiculous, but that's all I can come up with, because Massa just spun completely unbidden. The Red Bull wasn't even close to him. Whatever it was, congratulations Felipe, you just won a Moo!
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
*LIGHTS OUT: It's a long run to the first, left-handed, corner at Abu Dhabi, which gives plenty of time for... things, both good and bad, to occur as the Thundering Herd makes its way there, and we had plenty of both today. To begin with, Mark Webber, starting 2nd, had one of his patented Mark Webber Lousy Start©s to the race, allowing both Hakham Maldonado and Kimi Raikkonen to quickly get past, and Jenson Button to slip by moments later. Indeed, Raikkonen took the opportunity to also get by the Williams of Maldonado to take second place and begin to race after polesitter Lewis Hamilton. Further back, four midpackers tried to side-by-side through Turn 1, a trick which never works in any form of motorsports. Nico Hulkenberg's Force India wound up being craned off, Lettuce Grosjean had a puncture, and Bruno Senna's Williams... suffered nothing visible from a rather hard clout. Back up at the front of the field, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, racing for his Driver's Championship chances, outraced Webber for fourth place down the second back straight. When the field crossed the line for the first time, the order was Hamilton, Raikkonen, Maldonado, Alonso, Webber, and Button. Further back, Red Bull's Seb Vettel was 20th with a damaged front wing and beginning his long climb up the field.
*CALM BEFORE THE STORM: After an action-packed first lap, everything settled down, at least up front. To be sure, there was jockeying as Alonso hounded Maldonado for third, but nothing up front changed. There had to be a portion of everybody minds, however, that was curious what the Drivers' Championship leader was doing. "Working his way through the field" is what he was doing. By Lap 4 he was 16th. Lap 7 saw him claw his way up to 14th, and by the end of Lap 8 he was 13th. All was not wine and roses, though. The front wing damage was severe enough that Adrian Newey, designer of the RB8 and member of the Red Bull pit wall, was seen inspecting a spare nose, obviously checking to see what sort of structural stability the damaged wing had left... and not looking all that happy with what his mental tallies came up with.
*F1 DODGES A BULLET: Nico Rosberg had to be cursing his luck. He had started seventh, but broke his front wing against Lettuce Grosjean's Lotus and needed to pit at the end of the first lap. Now he was working his way back up the field and closing fast on the HRT of Narain Kittylitter as they worked their way through the twiddlybits of Sector Three. As the two came down the sole fast patch in the Sector through the dog-leg Turn 15, the Mercedes was well-positioned close behind the HRT to outbrake it into 17, or overpower it through 16. A thin wisp of smoke was seen issuing from Kittylitter's car, though, and the Indian suddenly slowed at a dramatic clip. Surprised, there was nothing Rosberg could do.
The Mercedes climbed right overtop of the HRT, its right-rear corner not taking Kittylitter's head off by only a few inches. After clearing the remains of the backmarker, the Mercedes flew a few more yards before settling back to the track with quite a bit of violence.
Rosberg would slide into the TecPro barriers at a speed seemingly unreduced from before the impact. Fortunately, both drivers would exit their cars unaided and with some speed. Neither were obviously injured, though Rosberg will probably be sore in the morning. Nearly before the Mercedes stopped moving, the Safety Car was called out and Berndt Maylander began to do his thing.
*SAFETY? CAR: During a Safety Car period, you usually see a rush of cars heading for the pit lane. Today, not so much. In fact, the top 10 runners stayed firmly on circuit, fearing the loss of track position would be impossible to make up as Yas Marina is notoriously hard to pass on. Even Seb Vettel, now in 12th place but with a damaged front wing, seemed loath to come in... until the decision was made for him. As he horked the car left and right to keep his tires and brakes warm, the Toro Rosso in front of him did the same, but out of sequence with the Red Bull driver. In effect, when Vettel was accelerating, the Toro Rosso was braking. On Lap 13, the asynchronicity proved to be too much and Vettel had to take evasive action... at a part of the track where he was not alone.
Fortunately, the trackside DRS notifier is made out of styrofoam for just this reason, but the RB8 was going fast enough that the impact broke off another chunk of the already-damaged front wing. The team immediately told him to pit, and suddenly Vettel was back in 21st place.
*GREEN GREEN GREEN: At the end of the lap, the Safety Car came back in, and Vettel spent the next five laps climbing his way back up to 14th place while the top five was Hamilton, Raikkonen, Maldonado, Alonso and Webber. While back in the backfield there was some action (see Move of the Race), up front it looked like Hamilton had the race solidly in hand. Raikkonen couldn't close on him, and nobody could close on the Lotus driver. The only question was how much damage control Vettel could execute for his Drivers Championship chances.
*WE SPOKE TOO SOON: And then Lewis Hamilton was seen coasting to a stop in the grass.
The team later said it was a fuel pressure problem and Hamilton said it just happened instantly... first it was going great guns, then the engine was completely cold and quiet. In any case, the leader had just withdrawn from the race, ceding first place to the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. A half-lap later, Fernando Alonso passed Maldonado for second place and sent his Ferrari off in pursuit of the 2007 World Driving Champion. With Hamilton's retirement from the race, he was also eliminated from the 2012 chase for the Championship as well. At the end of Lap 26, Kimi Raikkonen led Fernando Alonso by 6.5 seconds, followed by Jenson Button, Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber... and Sebastian Vettel.
*LET THE PITSTOPS BEGIN: The Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi is a 55-lap race. Despite starting on the soft Option tires, which theoretically shouldn't be able to last very long, the first of the heavy hitters (Vettel excepted, but his was a special case) still hadn't stopped by Lap 28. To be sure, there'd been a long Safety Car period, but even given that, the tires had to have been going off soon. On Lap 29, Fernando Alonso made the first move, pitting from second and shifting onto the medium-compound Prime tires, obviously going for a one-stop strategy. The team knew that the race was still up for grabs and they wanted to give their man the best chance possible to win it: Alonso was stopped for only 2.7 seconds. Over the next couple of laps everybody but Raikkonen and Vettel stopped for tires, giving us the incredible standings of Raikkonen, Vettel, Alonso, Button and Senna. Vettel had picked up 22 places in 31 laps, and if Lotus didn't service their man cleanly, had a chance to be in the lead! Kimi came in on Lap 32 with a nearly 23-second lead.
He came out in first, but not by a whole heckuvalot. The thought amongst the F1U! team was that Vettel would have to pit again, that 40 laps would be too far for the Prime tires to go, even with Vettel driving... which brings up an interesting strategy dilemma. If the RB8 pitted, he'd throw away any chance, small though it may be, for a race victory, but on fresh Option tires, he could make up a lot of time and positions quickly. OR, he could push the old Prime tires for the remaining 23 laps and have a shot at winning... or dropping down the field if the tires fell off the cliff. An interesting dilemma, and earlier in the season the decision would be an awfully tough one to make. In Race 18, with Vettel not needing a victory, however, the choice was easy. Red Bull brought in their man on Lap 38, and he fell to 4th place, behind Raikkonen, Alonso, and Button. He then got some help.
*AGAIN WITH THE SAFETY CAR: When you get a number of cars gathered together that all have roughly the same performance, things can get a little dicey if the drivers aren't all of superb skill levels. On Lap 38, Paul Di Resta, Sergio Perez and Lettuce Grosjean were all dicing for fifth place, with Mark Webber hovering closely behind the three. Di Resta attacked Grosjean, which gave Perez a chance to try passing around the outside of Turn 11. However, the Force India cut the corner of Turn 13, sending the Sauber into the run-off area on the outside. When he returned to the track, he found the Lotus of Grosjean there and the two made sharp contact. Perez was tipped into a spin, Lettuce's front suspension was shattered, and his car staggered across the track.
The Red Bull of Mark Webber had no place to go. His right rear wheel was ripped clean off, taking the rear wing with it. While he skidded to a halt in the grass off-track, and Perez was able to limp to the pits, Lettuce's Lotus died on the racing line. Berndt Maylander was duly summoned, and suddenly any lead Raikkonen had over Alonso, Button and yes, Vettel, was gone.
*ENDGAME: When the Safety Car period ended, the standings were Raikkonen, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Maldonado, Gandalf Kobayashi, Massa, Senna, Jules Vergne, and Paul diResta. Kimi had a great restart and began to pull away from the Ferrari, by Lap 50 opening a 2.129 second lead. But Alonso, aware that Button was probably going to fall to Vettel, began to push Kimi hard. The lead began to drop lap by lap. On Lap 53, Vettel got past Button, and Alonso had cut the lead to 1.384 seconds. As the Finn and the Spaniard crossed the start/finish line on Lap 54, the lead was less than a second, but somehow opened to 1.090 seconds when they crossed the DRS line... just a smidge too far apart to allow the use of the speed-boosting device. Finally, on the last lap, the Ferrari got to use the DRS, but was too far back to make it really count. Alonso was driving his car on the limit, almost drifting through the final few turns in his last desperate attempts to catch up to the leader. To no avail. Kimi Raikkonen brought his Lotus across the finish line for his first win since he unretired, just .805 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was four seconds ahead of a hard-charging Seb Vettel in third, completing a remarkable drive, and bringing the Race of the Year to an end.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Any other race, Kimi Raikkonen would be the obvious choice. Retired for three years and earning a win in his first season back? Yeah, that'd be enough for a Driver of the Race award... usually. Not today. Seb Vettel started from the pit lane, worked his way up the field, fell back to 20th, then worked his way up the field again to finish on the podium, just behind his main competition for the Drivers Championship. He limited the damage to his lead to just three points, earning 15 to Alonso's 18. The possibility existed that he'd lose it all today... that he didn't can only be credited to great driving and good luck. Drive of the race for sure.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: Lotus. Finally.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: This was a wild one. On Lap 16, the order was Charles ToothPic in 17th, then Grosjean, Vettel and Di Resta in 20th as they came down the long long back straight. Everybody but ToothPic could use the DRS, and Lettuce and Vettel decided to make their moves at the same time.
As one would expect, the Lotus and the Red Bull made it past the Marussia, though it did require some late braking on the part of Vettel going into the chicane to the second long straight.
It then became a straight drag race to Turn 11.
Vettel managed to outrun Lettuce, while Di Resta caught and passed ToothPic, and nearly the Lotus as well. All four of them get to share in the MotR for making it happen without wrecking. Good job everybody!
*MOOOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: We still don't know just what happened between Mark Webber and Felipe Massa on Lap 26. It looked like Webber passed Massa, the two touched, Webber left the track and when he returned, it spooked the Brazilian.
It seems ridiculous, but that's all I can come up with, because Massa just spun completely unbidden. The Red Bull wasn't even close to him. Whatever it was, congratulations Felipe, you just won a Moo!
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
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Abu Dhabi 2012: How F1 SHOULD Be.
What an extraordinary race that was! It's going to take me some time to adequately write this one up... it had everything a race fan could ask for, up to but fortunately NOT including fisticuffs. That was about the only thing lacking, however.
As a reminder, no discussion of the race until the F1U! is posted. I'm pretty laid back about stuff in my comment section, but not about F1 results, and definitely not about this race. I will break out the banhammer and I will use it. Please don't make me. Don't even hint about the results.
While you're waiting, here's the new McLaren Tooned! for your enjoyment.
It'll be worth it.
As a reminder, no discussion of the race until the F1U! is posted. I'm pretty laid back about stuff in my comment section, but not about F1 results, and definitely not about this race. I will break out the banhammer and I will use it. Please don't make me. Don't even hint about the results.
While you're waiting, here's the new McLaren Tooned! for your enjoyment.
It'll be worth it.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
12:19 PM
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November 03, 2012
F1 Quals: Abu Dhabi 2012 (UPDATED)
In the previous three races at Abu Dhabi, there have only been two men on the front row: Shiv Hamilton and Seb Vettel. Considering the way the end of this season has been going , it's practically a guarantee that Vettel'd be there, but would Hamilton hold up his end of the bargain? Here's the highly provisional grid for the 2012 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi:
Sebby Vettel has had a fraught day. First he missed almost all of P3 with a brake problem on his RB8, then in Quals his car seemed to be suffering from a balance problem. Despite all this, he still ended up third on the grid... for the time being. Y'see, after the session ended this happened:
So a lot of things happened at once here, so let's run them down. First, the pit wall called Vettel and told him (with some energy, I might add) to "park the car, park the car." Quickly thereafter, the indicator on his steering wheel showed a shift from Third gear directly to Neutral. Then in an interview afterwards, Christian Horner, team honcho for Red Bull, told SKY that "the engine provider told us to stop." So many possible penalties to look for... gearbox change (for the jump from 3 to N), engine change (the cars are in parc ferme condition), unable to get back to the pit lane after Quals (Hamilton lost pole position in Barcalounger for that one), and too many engines used (this was Vettel's eight and final allotted engine on the season).
HWCBN(UCC) has got to be awfully happy at this possibility. I know I am. More to the point, the Ferrari driver may have an opening to cut the lead back down to single-digits or even take a lead again. We won't know for a while what, if anything, will happen to Vettel; I'll keep an eye out and update as information warrants.
UPDATE: Vettel has been sent to the back of the grid for violating Article 6.6.2 of the Technical Regulations, which states that any car at the end of Q3 must have a liter of fuel available for testing. Not making it back to the pits under its own power is also a violation, but if the team can explain why it needed to be stopped, it is often allowed, and that's what occurred here. However, once Scrutineering got a hold of it, there wasn't enough fuel... depending on whose explanation you read, there was either 850ml or 150ml left in the tank. As a result, Vettel is sent to the back of the grid. However, the team immediately broke parc ferme to attempt to repair whatever required him to stop on track, and he'll be starting from the pit lane instead. If HWCBN(UCC) is going to have a chance at the Championship, he has got to make this opportunity count.
Sebby Vettel has had a fraught day. First he missed almost all of P3 with a brake problem on his RB8, then in Quals his car seemed to be suffering from a balance problem. Despite all this, he still ended up third on the grid... for the time being. Y'see, after the session ended this happened:
So a lot of things happened at once here, so let's run them down. First, the pit wall called Vettel and told him (with some energy, I might add) to "park the car, park the car." Quickly thereafter, the indicator on his steering wheel showed a shift from Third gear directly to Neutral. Then in an interview afterwards, Christian Horner, team honcho for Red Bull, told SKY that "the engine provider told us to stop." So many possible penalties to look for... gearbox change (for the jump from 3 to N), engine change (the cars are in parc ferme condition), unable to get back to the pit lane after Quals (Hamilton lost pole position in Barcalounger for that one), and too many engines used (this was Vettel's eight and final allotted engine on the season).
HWCBN(UCC) has got to be awfully happy at this possibility. I know I am. More to the point, the Ferrari driver may have an opening to cut the lead back down to single-digits or even take a lead again. We won't know for a while what, if anything, will happen to Vettel; I'll keep an eye out and update as information warrants.
UPDATE: Vettel has been sent to the back of the grid for violating Article 6.6.2 of the Technical Regulations, which states that any car at the end of Q3 must have a liter of fuel available for testing. Not making it back to the pits under its own power is also a violation, but if the team can explain why it needed to be stopped, it is often allowed, and that's what occurred here. However, once Scrutineering got a hold of it, there wasn't enough fuel... depending on whose explanation you read, there was either 850ml or 150ml left in the tank. As a result, Vettel is sent to the back of the grid. However, the team immediately broke parc ferme to attempt to repair whatever required him to stop on track, and he'll be starting from the pit lane instead. If HWCBN(UCC) is going to have a chance at the Championship, he has got to make this opportunity count.
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November 02, 2012
F1 Practice: Abu Dhabi 2012
I've come to the conclusion that I don't really care about this practice session. It's been a long, crappy day at the end of a long, crappy week leading into next week when I have inventory. I only just got home from a day that started when I accidentally gave myself half a Hitler mustache, and to be honest, I don't want to watch the remaining 45 minutes of a practice session that I watched half of live. Ready for the news about the session? Vettel was fastest ahead of the two McLarens. Tah-dah!
Yes, I know what I sound like. I sound like someone tired and cranky and grumpy and tired of wondering by how much Seb Vettel is going to win by. We started the season off with seven different winners in the first seven races. We might end the season with ONE winner for the last seven races. Darn it.
Quals in the morning, and I'll be better for that. I promise, my fellow F1 fans.
Yes, I know what I sound like. I sound like someone tired and cranky and grumpy and tired of wondering by how much Seb Vettel is going to win by. We started the season off with seven different winners in the first seven races. We might end the season with ONE winner for the last seven races. Darn it.
Quals in the morning, and I'll be better for that. I promise, my fellow F1 fans.
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