June 07, 2013
F1 Practice: Montreal 2013
If we learned anything during today's two practice sessions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it is these items:
1) Force India might have actually turned the corner. I hate to predict results from practice sessions... in fact, I regularly say to avoid doing precisely that. But the consistent movement of the team up the charts has made it unavoidable. Paul di Resta headed the timesheet in P1 this morning, albeit on a wet-but-drying track, and Adrian Sutil spent a lot of time in the stratified reaches of the top 10 during P2 on a dry track. Are they going to be on the podium this weekend? No, probably not, but I don't believe it would cause any great reaction shot memes to be created if it happened, either.
3) This tire thingy isn't going away. To bring everybody up to speed, immediately after the Spanish Grand Prix, Pirelli ran a tire test with Mercedes. Normally, this isn't a big deal... there was a test with Ferrari, for example, that nobody is complaining about. There was one big difference between the two, however: Ferrari used their 2011 car, while Mercedes used their current chassis. The team got to run 1000km on Pirelli test tires fitted to the same car they used in Monaco... which race, it might be pointed out, they won. More important than the tire runs, though, data from which will benefit all the teams eventually, was that Mercedes got 600 miles of running where they could bolt on any upgrades they wanted to try. In-season testing is expressly forbidden by the Sporting Regulations. So why did Mercedes do it? Because they were asked to by Pirelli, who can run tests during the season. Confused yet?
As you can imagine, the other teams are going slightly apecrap over this. Not because Mercedes got to run on the new Pirelli tires, no, but because they got to do 1000km of live running with their 2013 car while slapping on whatever upgrades they wanted to test... and the other teams didn't. Even if they didn't put upgrades on the car, another 600 miles of running with Nico Rosberg and Shiv Hamilton behind the wheel would give the team a LOT of input that the others didn't get the chance to get. According to Legendary Announce Team member Steve Matchett, everybody up and down the pit lane tends to get somewhat heated when this is mentioned. Red Bull Tire Guy Jon Gates had a tweet that seems to get right to the heart of the matter: "Last flight in has landed in Montreal, good to see our mates from other teams have arrived safe and sound. Mercedes and Pirelli also here." Mercedes and Pirelli are being hauled in front of the FIA's International Tribunal on June 20th, the results of which could be staggeringly severe. I don't think we'll see a repeat of Stepneygate's $100million fine (90% of which was because then-McLaren head honcho Ron Dennis was something of a prat). But Mercedes excluded from the championship? Possible. Their points for Monaco taken away? Likely. We'll see, of course. Just another bump in the road for the team from Germany.
If we learned anything during today's two practice sessions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it is these items:
1) Force India might have actually turned the corner. I hate to predict results from practice sessions... in fact, I regularly say to avoid doing precisely that. But the consistent movement of the team up the charts has made it unavoidable. Paul di Resta headed the timesheet in P1 this morning, albeit on a wet-but-drying track, and Adrian Sutil spent a lot of time in the stratified reaches of the top 10 during P2 on a dry track. Are they going to be on the podium this weekend? No, probably not, but I don't believe it would cause any great reaction shot memes to be created if it happened, either.
No, I didn't write that entire paragraph just to post this picture. Nice one, though.
2) The FIA's weather forecasters are blind, clueless or incompetent. Why would I suggest such a thing? They're claiming that there's no chance of rain on race day... when there's a tropical storm heading up the east coast of the US that's supposed to be in the vicinity of Montreal on Sunday, though heading away. How can ANYBODY forecast race day to be dry in those circumstances? Plus, it's Montreal: it may as well be named Spa-Francorchamps West. Having said that, they are predicting rain during Quals, so they're not totally insane.3) This tire thingy isn't going away. To bring everybody up to speed, immediately after the Spanish Grand Prix, Pirelli ran a tire test with Mercedes. Normally, this isn't a big deal... there was a test with Ferrari, for example, that nobody is complaining about. There was one big difference between the two, however: Ferrari used their 2011 car, while Mercedes used their current chassis. The team got to run 1000km on Pirelli test tires fitted to the same car they used in Monaco... which race, it might be pointed out, they won. More important than the tire runs, though, data from which will benefit all the teams eventually, was that Mercedes got 600 miles of running where they could bolt on any upgrades they wanted to try. In-season testing is expressly forbidden by the Sporting Regulations. So why did Mercedes do it? Because they were asked to by Pirelli, who can run tests during the season. Confused yet?
As you can imagine, the other teams are going slightly apecrap over this. Not because Mercedes got to run on the new Pirelli tires, no, but because they got to do 1000km of live running with their 2013 car while slapping on whatever upgrades they wanted to test... and the other teams didn't. Even if they didn't put upgrades on the car, another 600 miles of running with Nico Rosberg and Shiv Hamilton behind the wheel would give the team a LOT of input that the others didn't get the chance to get. According to Legendary Announce Team member Steve Matchett, everybody up and down the pit lane tends to get somewhat heated when this is mentioned. Red Bull Tire Guy Jon Gates had a tweet that seems to get right to the heart of the matter: "Last flight in has landed in Montreal, good to see our mates from other teams have arrived safe and sound. Mercedes and Pirelli also here." Mercedes and Pirelli are being hauled in front of the FIA's International Tribunal on June 20th, the results of which could be staggeringly severe. I don't think we'll see a repeat of Stepneygate's $100million fine (90% of which was because then-McLaren head honcho Ron Dennis was something of a prat). But Mercedes excluded from the championship? Possible. Their points for Monaco taken away? Likely. We'll see, of course. Just another bump in the road for the team from Germany.
A three-inch speed bump, to be exact.
So that's about it for Friday from Montreal. Quals in the afternoon... nice to be able to say that for once... with writeup sometime thereafter. See ya then!
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June 03, 2013
F1 On The NBC Networks: Montreal 2013
After the slow crawl through the narrow streets of a tiny French fishing
village, the F1 Circus makes its way across the pond (as opposed to
crossing The Pond, which you do at your peril) to Montreal. Here's a
look at the track map for Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, home of the 2013
Grand Prix of Canada:
Oddly, there are many similarities between Montreal and Monaco. Both speak French, for example, but I was more interested in the tracks. Both are hard on the brakes; Montreal is the only place I've ever seen a brake disc explode, for example. Both are relatively narrow with close walls, though Canada has more run-off room in general. It's still no Abu Dhabi, though, and is quite unforgiving. Both tracks will have the super-soft tires on hand, though Canada will also have the mediums available (Monaco had softs).
There are plenty of differences, of course. Where Monaco is a high-downforce circuit, Montreal is just the opposite. Lots of fast bits broken up by slow, slow turns categorize Canada, which is why the brakes get such a workout here. You're just stomping on the clampers here. Also, in Montreal they've got better beer and worse food than in Monaco, unless you like donuts.
Which is to say, Canada is a fun track, arguably the best in F1 (though I wouldn't vote for it). There's always safety cars here, the weather often plays a part (2011: two hour rain delay!), and good races are common. And the Legendary Announce Team will be bringing it to us with their usual je ne sais quoi. Here's the broadcast schedule:
FRIDAY
1p - 230p: Practice 2 live NBCSN
SATURDAY
12noon - 130p: Quals live NBCSN
SUNDAY
1p - 330p: 2013 Grand Prix of Canada, live on NBC
Whaddya know, a race you don't have to get up at 530am for! Yay us! Of course, F1Update! will be all over the race, or something like that, so don't move a muscle. Ever.
See you then.
Oddly, there are many similarities between Montreal and Monaco. Both speak French, for example, but I was more interested in the tracks. Both are hard on the brakes; Montreal is the only place I've ever seen a brake disc explode, for example. Both are relatively narrow with close walls, though Canada has more run-off room in general. It's still no Abu Dhabi, though, and is quite unforgiving. Both tracks will have the super-soft tires on hand, though Canada will also have the mediums available (Monaco had softs).
There are plenty of differences, of course. Where Monaco is a high-downforce circuit, Montreal is just the opposite. Lots of fast bits broken up by slow, slow turns categorize Canada, which is why the brakes get such a workout here. You're just stomping on the clampers here. Also, in Montreal they've got better beer and worse food than in Monaco, unless you like donuts.
Which is to say, Canada is a fun track, arguably the best in F1 (though I wouldn't vote for it). There's always safety cars here, the weather often plays a part (2011: two hour rain delay!), and good races are common. And the Legendary Announce Team will be bringing it to us with their usual je ne sais quoi. Here's the broadcast schedule:
FRIDAY
1p - 230p: Practice 2 live NBCSN
SATURDAY
12noon - 130p: Quals live NBCSN
SUNDAY
1p - 330p: 2013 Grand Prix of Canada, live on NBC
Whaddya know, a race you don't have to get up at 530am for! Yay us! Of course, F1Update! will be all over the race, or something like that, so don't move a muscle. Ever.
See you then.
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May 25, 2013
F1 Quals: Monaco 2013
Rain. Rain makes everything better. In Formula 1, rain is called "the great equalizer." When it rains, you throw everything you knew about the cars and throw it all into the wheeliebins. ANYthing can happen, and occasionally does. Now make it rain during qualifying at Monaco, and you can imagine what happened.
Let's take a look at the provisional grid for the 2013 Grand Prix of Monaco:
The rain came just as Q1 was about to begin, and you can see what it did to the times. It was quite a common sight to see names like Valtteri Bottas and Jules Vergne at the top of the timesheet, though eventually it settled down slightly. In Q2, a drying line started to form and the times dropped precipitously, leaving most of the usual suspects in Q3.
In Q3, on a mostly dry circuit, the expected Mercedes massacre occurred, with Nico Rosberg taking his third consecutive pole, and Shiv Hamilton locking up the front row for the German team. Red Bull holds the second row, and Hannibal Vettel looked like he wanted to kill someone in the interview room.
You may notice that Massa got a DNQ: he was involved in a terrible wreck in Saturday Practice, broke both ends of the car, and Ferrari just couldn't get it rebuilt in time for Quals.
Fun Qualifying... maybe we'll have rain for the race, too! That's Sunday morning, we'll see you afterwards!
Let's take a look at the provisional grid for the 2013 Grand Prix of Monaco:
The rain came just as Q1 was about to begin, and you can see what it did to the times. It was quite a common sight to see names like Valtteri Bottas and Jules Vergne at the top of the timesheet, though eventually it settled down slightly. In Q2, a drying line started to form and the times dropped precipitously, leaving most of the usual suspects in Q3.
In Q3, on a mostly dry circuit, the expected Mercedes massacre occurred, with Nico Rosberg taking his third consecutive pole, and Shiv Hamilton locking up the front row for the German team. Red Bull holds the second row, and Hannibal Vettel looked like he wanted to kill someone in the interview room.
You may notice that Massa got a DNQ: he was involved in a terrible wreck in Saturday Practice, broke both ends of the car, and Ferrari just couldn't get it rebuilt in time for Quals.
Fun Qualifying... maybe we'll have rain for the race, too! That's Sunday morning, we'll see you afterwards!
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May 24, 2013
F1 Practice: Monaco 2013
Nothing too big to report on "today". Beautiful day, and other than Lettuce Grosjean scraping the left side of his car clean of any projections in Sainte Devote, nothing impressive occurred. Team Mercedes is being tabbed to take pole on Saturday, and people are saying that, since Monaco is so impossible to pass at, they've got a good chance to win. The famous "Get Pole, Be Slow" technique, I guess.
Maybe. I don't see it, but maybe. There's just way too many ways for that strategy to go wrong around Monaco. But then, that's why they drive and I commentate.
Well, that and I'm not rich and I weigh more than 140 pounds.
Quals in the morning.
Maybe. I don't see it, but maybe. There's just way too many ways for that strategy to go wrong around Monaco. But then, that's why they drive and I commentate.
Well, that and I'm not rich and I weigh more than 140 pounds.
Quals in the morning.
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That's... Quite The Finish
So there was a 100 mile Indy Lights race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today, during the annual "Carb Day" festivities. Indy Lights is like the "minor leagues" of IndyCar, a feeder division into bigger and better. Being a spec series, all the cars are identical 450hp V8 Dallaras, so it's all driver skill. So the race... yeah, it had a close finish. How close?
THAT close. The gap from first to second? .0026 seconds or maybe six inches. The gap from first to fourth? .0443 seconds. You can watch the actual finish here.
Now if we can get Monaco to be that close...
THAT close. The gap from first to second? .0026 seconds or maybe six inches. The gap from first to fourth? .0443 seconds. You can watch the actual finish here.
Now if we can get Monaco to be that close...
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May 23, 2013
Monaco, Friday.
Okay, I'm making an executive decision here... I'm gonna do the Monaco Practice writeup on Friday instead of tonight. It's been a long couple of weeks, and I want a nap. While you're waiting, here's the newest trailer for Rush.
Me likey.
Me likey.
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May 20, 2013
F1 On The NBC Networks: Monaco 2013
If Silverstone is the birthplace of Formula 1, Monaco is its soul. The glitz, the glamour, the money, the casino, the royalty, it is everything that the sport could have possibly hoped it would become back in the old days. Let's take a look at the track map for this historic circuit:
The odd thing about this ultimate street circuit is, of course, that it would never be allowed on the calendar if it was proposed today. It's too narrow, there's no run-off area to speak of, it's immensely dangerous... and it is glorious. Win here, and you walk with the legends. If a team or a driver could only win one race in a season, it would be this one. It is the ultimate challenge to drive well.
For all that, it's not a great racetrack anymore. Cars are wider and faster than they used to be, so you often get a processional around here... unless it rains. Which, considering Monaco's location on the Mediterranean, happens fairly often and with only small amounts of warning. Anyway, while individually many of the turns are wonderful, the run past The Swimming Pool (13-14-15-16) in particular, as a whole it's probably the hardest track on F1 to drive. No mistakes are ever allowed, no slacking of attention. It's perhaps the only circuit in Formula 1 where driver skill can take priority over car.
In some ways, this is the least subtle circuit on the calendar. Downforce? As much as you can crank on the car, and more besides. The rules say you can't attach a barn door in place of the rear wing, but if you could, the teams probably would. Track speed? Slow. It's the lowest average speed of any race we'll come across on the calendar. Perversely, while there's no grip in the tarmac due to their everyday use as public streets, the circuit isn't gentle on tires... because there's no grip in the tarmac. The tires almost slide over the street surface, which isn't the way they're supposed to work. Take a pink eraser and rub it over the asphalt of your parking lot, see how much of it comes off... that's kind of the way tires work at Monaco. Both brakes and engines have cooling problems around The Principality as well; both require airflow, preferably high-velocity airflow which is in short supply here. So the brakes heat up and never really cool off... that's fine to start with, but when the carbon/carbon discs get too hot, they begin to glaze, reducing efficiency.
We're going to have something unprecedented this weekend: a European F1 race live on US network TV, and the Legendary Announce Team will be bringing it to us! Let's take a look at the schedule:
THURSDAY
Practice 2: 7a - 830a live on NBCSN
FRIDAY
(nothing)
SATURDAY
Quals: 7a - 830a live on NBCSN
SUNDAY
2013 Grand Prix of Monaco 630a - 9a live on NBC
As is tradition, there are no race-related activities on Friday, so as to let the multimillionaires and billionaires to come home from St Tropez or Moritz or Newark. Of course, F1 Update! will be all over the race as well... rejoice! See you then!
The odd thing about this ultimate street circuit is, of course, that it would never be allowed on the calendar if it was proposed today. It's too narrow, there's no run-off area to speak of, it's immensely dangerous... and it is glorious. Win here, and you walk with the legends. If a team or a driver could only win one race in a season, it would be this one. It is the ultimate challenge to drive well.
For all that, it's not a great racetrack anymore. Cars are wider and faster than they used to be, so you often get a processional around here... unless it rains. Which, considering Monaco's location on the Mediterranean, happens fairly often and with only small amounts of warning. Anyway, while individually many of the turns are wonderful, the run past The Swimming Pool (13-14-15-16) in particular, as a whole it's probably the hardest track on F1 to drive. No mistakes are ever allowed, no slacking of attention. It's perhaps the only circuit in Formula 1 where driver skill can take priority over car.
In some ways, this is the least subtle circuit on the calendar. Downforce? As much as you can crank on the car, and more besides. The rules say you can't attach a barn door in place of the rear wing, but if you could, the teams probably would. Track speed? Slow. It's the lowest average speed of any race we'll come across on the calendar. Perversely, while there's no grip in the tarmac due to their everyday use as public streets, the circuit isn't gentle on tires... because there's no grip in the tarmac. The tires almost slide over the street surface, which isn't the way they're supposed to work. Take a pink eraser and rub it over the asphalt of your parking lot, see how much of it comes off... that's kind of the way tires work at Monaco. Both brakes and engines have cooling problems around The Principality as well; both require airflow, preferably high-velocity airflow which is in short supply here. So the brakes heat up and never really cool off... that's fine to start with, but when the carbon/carbon discs get too hot, they begin to glaze, reducing efficiency.
We're going to have something unprecedented this weekend: a European F1 race live on US network TV, and the Legendary Announce Team will be bringing it to us! Let's take a look at the schedule:
THURSDAY
Practice 2: 7a - 830a live on NBCSN
FRIDAY
(nothing)
SATURDAY
Quals: 7a - 830a live on NBCSN
SUNDAY
2013 Grand Prix of Monaco 630a - 9a live on NBC
As is tradition, there are no race-related activities on Friday, so as to let the multimillionaires and billionaires to come home from St Tropez or Moritz or Newark. Of course, F1 Update! will be all over the race as well... rejoice! See you then!
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May 11, 2013
F1 Quals: Spain 2013
We all know that it's important to be on pole for a F1 race. It keeps you clear of the thundering herd and all the little incidents that occur in the pack that can kill your race before it begins. There are some circuits where it's even more important than normal to be on pole. Monaco is the usual example, but one of those oddball stats that blindside you with its data came to light today... SPAIN, not Monaco, is the most pole-dependent race on the calendar. Eleven of the past 12 dry races at Barcalounger have been won from the pole... and the one oddball was Hannibal Vettel winning from second in 2011. So, yes, it's a little important to be on pole this week. So who just shot to the top of the bookies' sheets? Here's the provisional grid for the 2013 Grand Prix of Spain:
This is the second pole in a row for Nico Rosberg, and the third on the trot for Mercedes... which brings us a puzzling situation. What happens when the car that's on pole is great for single laps, but not so good over race distances? Last race, Rosberg started first and ended up ninth... not because of any strategy problems, or traffic woes, but because the car just doesn't like going more than three laps at a time. Should prove interesting to find an answer... except if the two Mercs don't win, it'll undoubtedly be Hannibal Vettel whose lap the race will fall into.
Dammit.
In other news, one year ago, Pastor Maldonado started the Spanish Grand Prix from pole and won Williams' first race in what seemed like forever. Tomorrow, he'll be starting 18th, with his Williams teammate in 17th. Yeesh. And speaking of "yeesh," McLaren's season is essentially over already; they're 86 points behind Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship... even if they start winning everything in sight, does anybody really believe that Red Bull wouldn't be right behind them? Nope, stick a fork in 'em, they're done. Even Force India has more points than they do (26 to 23). One wonders if they installed the throttle correctly or something. "Oh, silly us, we put the gas pedal on the LEFT side, not the right..."
Race in the morning, F1U! sometime thereafter.
This is the second pole in a row for Nico Rosberg, and the third on the trot for Mercedes... which brings us a puzzling situation. What happens when the car that's on pole is great for single laps, but not so good over race distances? Last race, Rosberg started first and ended up ninth... not because of any strategy problems, or traffic woes, but because the car just doesn't like going more than three laps at a time. Should prove interesting to find an answer... except if the two Mercs don't win, it'll undoubtedly be Hannibal Vettel whose lap the race will fall into.
Dammit.
In other news, one year ago, Pastor Maldonado started the Spanish Grand Prix from pole and won Williams' first race in what seemed like forever. Tomorrow, he'll be starting 18th, with his Williams teammate in 17th. Yeesh. And speaking of "yeesh," McLaren's season is essentially over already; they're 86 points behind Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship... even if they start winning everything in sight, does anybody really believe that Red Bull wouldn't be right behind them? Nope, stick a fork in 'em, they're done. Even Force India has more points than they do (26 to 23). One wonders if they installed the throttle correctly or something. "Oh, silly us, we put the gas pedal on the LEFT side, not the right..."
Race in the morning, F1U! sometime thereafter.
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May 10, 2013
F1 Practice: Spain 2013
The first race back in Europe after the first overseas leg always brings us new and... interesting... modifications to the cars. New wings, new sidepods, new noses, lots of new stuff we can't see. And on the whole, nothing ever changes. The fast teams are still fast, the slow teams are still slow, its just the same with more money spent. Unless you're Caterham.
They're really pushing the edge of the rules with their latest chassis. I have no idea how it passed the crashtesting, but I'm not the FIA. Gonna have a helluva lot of downforce, that's for sure.
Seriously though, Pirelli has a problem on their hands. Take a look at what happened to Force India's Paul di Resta at the end of P2:
The left-rear tire completely delaminated. Fortunately the carcass stayed inflated, as it occurred as di Resta was on the front straight. He was able to keep the car under control and bring it to a stop just past pit-out.
I don't think I've ever seen that before. I've seen tires wear down to the canvas backing, sure, and of course we've seen plenty of blowouts where all you had left were the sidewalls, but I've never seen the rubber fall off the tire altogether. There is no way you can tell me that this is a good thing. I've been very calm with Pirelli, as they've just been doing what the FIA has asked them to do, tires running with short lifespans and all... but this just can't be allowed to happen.
Quals in the morning, Quals report sometime quite a bit later. See ya then!
They're really pushing the edge of the rules with their latest chassis. I have no idea how it passed the crashtesting, but I'm not the FIA. Gonna have a helluva lot of downforce, that's for sure.
Seriously though, Pirelli has a problem on their hands. Take a look at what happened to Force India's Paul di Resta at the end of P2:
The left-rear tire completely delaminated. Fortunately the carcass stayed inflated, as it occurred as di Resta was on the front straight. He was able to keep the car under control and bring it to a stop just past pit-out.
I don't think I've ever seen that before. I've seen tires wear down to the canvas backing, sure, and of course we've seen plenty of blowouts where all you had left were the sidewalls, but I've never seen the rubber fall off the tire altogether. There is no way you can tell me that this is a good thing. I've been very calm with Pirelli, as they've just been doing what the FIA has asked them to do, tires running with short lifespans and all... but this just can't be allowed to happen.
Quals in the morning, Quals report sometime quite a bit later. See ya then!
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May 05, 2013
F1 On NBCSN: Spain 2013!
It has been a while since Formula 1 has graced the digital pages of The Pond, but the first long break of the season has come to an end and F1 is back! The high-horsepower Circus has made its way back home to Europe and what many consider the real beginning of the season. The first race on The Continent is, as always, the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcalounger. Let's take a look at the track map, shall we?
If there is an "average track" in Formula 1, this is it. The teams have tested here so much, they know it like the back of their hand. There are no surprises in store, nothing they aren't aware of, leaving it down to the cars, the mechanics and the drivers. Having said all that, it's because there are no surprises in store at Barcalounger that races here can often have the appearance of being a parade. Not last year, though, when Pastor Maldonado won his first race, Williams won their first race in years on Sir Frank's birthday, and then their pit garage exploded into flames. Yes, that counts as memorable.
The biggest news going into the race is that Pirelli folded under the pressure from Red Bull and has changed the tire compound on their Hards. It's now going to be closer to the 2012 rubber, longer lasting and ohbytheway, something that the Red Bull chassis loved. The rest of the compounds have not changed, but give it time. We'll find out just how much difference it'll make this weekend as Pirelli brings the Hard and Medium tires to Barcalounger.
As far as the race goes, the good folks at NBCSN will be providing their usual sterling coverage all weekend! Here's the broadcast schedule:
FRIDAY
Practice 2: 7a - 830a live
SATURDAY
Quals: 7a - 830a live
SUNDAY
2013 Grand Prix of Spain: 63a - 9a
As usual, NBCSN's schedule is online via the excremental Zap2It, so it should all be taken with a grain of salt the size of a salt lick.
As is also usual, F1Update! will be all over the race, and by "all over," we mean we'll watch it and give it the writeup it deserves. Because that's what we do now. See ya then!
If there is an "average track" in Formula 1, this is it. The teams have tested here so much, they know it like the back of their hand. There are no surprises in store, nothing they aren't aware of, leaving it down to the cars, the mechanics and the drivers. Having said all that, it's because there are no surprises in store at Barcalounger that races here can often have the appearance of being a parade. Not last year, though, when Pastor Maldonado won his first race, Williams won their first race in years on Sir Frank's birthday, and then their pit garage exploded into flames. Yes, that counts as memorable.
The biggest news going into the race is that Pirelli folded under the pressure from Red Bull and has changed the tire compound on their Hards. It's now going to be closer to the 2012 rubber, longer lasting and ohbytheway, something that the Red Bull chassis loved. The rest of the compounds have not changed, but give it time. We'll find out just how much difference it'll make this weekend as Pirelli brings the Hard and Medium tires to Barcalounger.
As far as the race goes, the good folks at NBCSN will be providing their usual sterling coverage all weekend! Here's the broadcast schedule:
FRIDAY
Practice 2: 7a - 830a live
SATURDAY
Quals: 7a - 830a live
SUNDAY
2013 Grand Prix of Spain: 63a - 9a
As usual, NBCSN's schedule is online via the excremental Zap2It, so it should all be taken with a grain of salt the size of a salt lick.
As is also usual, F1Update! will be all over the race, and by "all over," we mean we'll watch it and give it the writeup it deserves. Because that's what we do now. See ya then!
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April 20, 2013
F1 Quals: Bahrain 2013
So... Bahrain. Not much to say about it. Here's the provisional grid for the 2013 Grand Prix of Bahrain:
There are penalties all over the place here. Webber has a three-spot penalty from last race. Esteban Gutierrez gets a five-place penalty from last race, too. Shiv Hamilton is taking a five-spot hit for a gearbox change. The upshot of all of it is that Felipe Massa is promoted to 4th place, and he's the only car on the Hard tires. THAT might be really important.
But probably not. Pirelli has brought the Hard and the Medium rubber to the circuit this race. The Medium compound has proven to be nearly as long-lasting as the Hard, but still gives a measurable bonus to traction. Maybe Massa's going to try a 1-stop strategy?
We'll find out Sunday morning. See ya then for F1Update!
There are penalties all over the place here. Webber has a three-spot penalty from last race. Esteban Gutierrez gets a five-place penalty from last race, too. Shiv Hamilton is taking a five-spot hit for a gearbox change. The upshot of all of it is that Felipe Massa is promoted to 4th place, and he's the only car on the Hard tires. THAT might be really important.
But probably not. Pirelli has brought the Hard and the Medium rubber to the circuit this race. The Medium compound has proven to be nearly as long-lasting as the Hard, but still gives a measurable bonus to traction. Maybe Massa's going to try a 1-stop strategy?
We'll find out Sunday morning. See ya then for F1Update!
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April 15, 2013
F1 On NBCSN: Bahrain 2013
So. Here we are again, going into Bahrain for the oh-so-popular Grand Prix of Bahrain. Here's the track map:
There are still protests occurring on this tiny island country. Reports are that the Government rounded up dozens of pro-Democracy leaders and imprisoned them last week. The most intense protests are, unsurprisingly, still centered around our little sport and the intense media circus that follows along. Also unsurprisingly, F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone is clueless: "What’s happened? They’re demonstrating now? I didn’t know that. There’s nobody demonstrating." The ridiculously loose collective of individuals calling themselves "Anonymous" are saying that they'll be targeting F1 this weekend as well, due to "Mr Ecclestone's blood race." Last year, they took down the official F1 website on race day.
All of this for a race that, quite honestly, is not very good. The track is used only rarely each year, it's dusty and sandy, which means it's horribly horribly abrasive as well. According to Pirelli, it's the circuit that's hardest on tires, due to a combination of grippy asphalt and gritty sand. I've often joked of circuits being made of "sandpaper and razor blades", but it appears that Bahrain really is.
We're not likely to experience much in the way of weather. There's always the chance of a sandstorm, but rain is almost certainly not going to happen. Building your track out in the middle of a desert provides you with one benefit over circuits like, say, Singapore: you've got a LOT of run-off room. It's probably the safest circuit on the calendar that way. Never mind the rioters.
Still, the Legendary Announce Team will do their usual bang-up job on race coverage. Here's the schedule:
FRIDAY
6a - 730a: Practice 2 live
SATURDAY
6a - 730a: Quals live
SUNDAY
630a - 9a: 2013 Grand Prix of Bahrain, live
As with the past few years, though we here at F1Update! don't think that F1 should be racing in Bahrain, since they are, we'll be covering the race. The past two have been dominated by Seb Vettel... let's hope for something different this year. See ya then!
There are still protests occurring on this tiny island country. Reports are that the Government rounded up dozens of pro-Democracy leaders and imprisoned them last week. The most intense protests are, unsurprisingly, still centered around our little sport and the intense media circus that follows along. Also unsurprisingly, F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone is clueless: "What’s happened? They’re demonstrating now? I didn’t know that. There’s nobody demonstrating." The ridiculously loose collective of individuals calling themselves "Anonymous" are saying that they'll be targeting F1 this weekend as well, due to "Mr Ecclestone's blood race." Last year, they took down the official F1 website on race day.
All of this for a race that, quite honestly, is not very good. The track is used only rarely each year, it's dusty and sandy, which means it's horribly horribly abrasive as well. According to Pirelli, it's the circuit that's hardest on tires, due to a combination of grippy asphalt and gritty sand. I've often joked of circuits being made of "sandpaper and razor blades", but it appears that Bahrain really is.
We're not likely to experience much in the way of weather. There's always the chance of a sandstorm, but rain is almost certainly not going to happen. Building your track out in the middle of a desert provides you with one benefit over circuits like, say, Singapore: you've got a LOT of run-off room. It's probably the safest circuit on the calendar that way. Never mind the rioters.
Still, the Legendary Announce Team will do their usual bang-up job on race coverage. Here's the schedule:
FRIDAY
6a - 730a: Practice 2 live
SATURDAY
6a - 730a: Quals live
SUNDAY
630a - 9a: 2013 Grand Prix of Bahrain, live
As with the past few years, though we here at F1Update! don't think that F1 should be racing in Bahrain, since they are, we'll be covering the race. The past two have been dominated by Seb Vettel... let's hope for something different this year. See ya then!
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April 13, 2013
F1 Quals: China 2013
As I mentioned yesterday, Friday Practice sessions for Formula 1 almost always consists of two
things: cars turning lots of laps, and cars turning lots of laps. Not to be outdone, Saturday Quals almost always consists of a decreasing number of cars turning lots of laps. Here's the grid for the 2013 Grand Prix of China:
In the 20-minute long Q1 session, we didn't see a car on track until nearly the half-way point. See, here's the problem... the tires Pirelli has brought to China are the Medium and the Soft compounds. We already know that the Mediums last forever, but we haven't seen the Softs until this weekend... and HOOBOY, do the teams have a conundrum. See, they have nearly a 1.5 second time difference over the Mediums... but they last for about two hot laps before they die screaming, and that's when the cars are light on fuel. With a full 300lbs of gas on board? They might make it to the end of the pit lane before they fall off... it depends on where your pit box is located. Since the teams know that they've got to use a set of these jelly-filled donuts during the race... well, you can see why they weren't out there, pounding out the laps. Almost nobody bothered taking the covers off the Mediums in Q1... what's the point? Kill off the Softs in Q1, maybe you'll get to Q2.
In the 15-minute Q2 session, again people didn't come out until the session clock had been going for a while. Again, the jelly-donuts were the rule of the day, and everything looked to be as boring as Q1 until we saw this sight:
While he had managed to set a time, Mark Webber couldn't make it back to the pits. The team called it a "fuel pickup problem." Yes, the problem was that there was no fuel for the fuel pickup to pick up. A problem with the fueling rig left him about six pounds of gas short of the planned amount. A dumb mistake, but it happens. However, the Stewards take a dim view of that during quals, as cars have to present one liter of fuel to scruitineering after the session. Webber wasn't able to do so: no fuel left. So the Stewards DQ'd him from Quals. While he was 14th, he'll be starting from the back of the grid on Sunday. I'm absolutely sure that there aren't any conspiracy theories flying around about how Red Bull "accidentally" shorted Webber for his anger after the last race. None whatsoever.
Then came Q3. Hannibal Vettel was first out, but didn't set a time and never moved from the garage again. McLaren's Jenson Button went out and drove the entire lap with his turn signal blinking... a 2:05.673 was the result, as he tiptoed around, taking care of the rubber. Those two will be starting on the Mediums; everybody else is on the Soft rubber.
So the race is going to be one of alternating tire strategies: most will go Soft Medium Medium. Most will be going Medium Medium Soft. From where I sit, that seems to be the best plan... but that's why they race the race, isn't it? It's supposed to be dry and warm on Sunday, we'll see you then!
In the 20-minute long Q1 session, we didn't see a car on track until nearly the half-way point. See, here's the problem... the tires Pirelli has brought to China are the Medium and the Soft compounds. We already know that the Mediums last forever, but we haven't seen the Softs until this weekend... and HOOBOY, do the teams have a conundrum. See, they have nearly a 1.5 second time difference over the Mediums... but they last for about two hot laps before they die screaming, and that's when the cars are light on fuel. With a full 300lbs of gas on board? They might make it to the end of the pit lane before they fall off... it depends on where your pit box is located. Since the teams know that they've got to use a set of these jelly-filled donuts during the race... well, you can see why they weren't out there, pounding out the laps. Almost nobody bothered taking the covers off the Mediums in Q1... what's the point? Kill off the Softs in Q1, maybe you'll get to Q2.
In the 15-minute Q2 session, again people didn't come out until the session clock had been going for a while. Again, the jelly-donuts were the rule of the day, and everything looked to be as boring as Q1 until we saw this sight:
While he had managed to set a time, Mark Webber couldn't make it back to the pits. The team called it a "fuel pickup problem." Yes, the problem was that there was no fuel for the fuel pickup to pick up. A problem with the fueling rig left him about six pounds of gas short of the planned amount. A dumb mistake, but it happens. However, the Stewards take a dim view of that during quals, as cars have to present one liter of fuel to scruitineering after the session. Webber wasn't able to do so: no fuel left. So the Stewards DQ'd him from Quals. While he was 14th, he'll be starting from the back of the grid on Sunday. I'm absolutely sure that there aren't any conspiracy theories flying around about how Red Bull "accidentally" shorted Webber for his anger after the last race. None whatsoever.
Then came Q3. Hannibal Vettel was first out, but didn't set a time and never moved from the garage again. McLaren's Jenson Button went out and drove the entire lap with his turn signal blinking... a 2:05.673 was the result, as he tiptoed around, taking care of the rubber. Those two will be starting on the Mediums; everybody else is on the Soft rubber.
So the race is going to be one of alternating tire strategies: most will go Soft Medium Medium. Most will be going Medium Medium Soft. From where I sit, that seems to be the best plan... but that's why they race the race, isn't it? It's supposed to be dry and warm on Sunday, we'll see you then!
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April 12, 2013
F1 Practice: China 2013
Friday Practice sessions for Formula 1 almost always consists of two things: cars turning lots of laps, and cars turning lots of laps. Today was just like that, only moreso.
In other words, it was dull. The track at China doesn't help matters a whit, because even down the long straight, it doesn't like the cars are going particularly fast. In fact, the big news out of today is that Seb Vettel, the man who wants to win so badly that he'll break team orders to do it, has apparently decided to drop the facade and turn full Hannibal Lecter:
"Had I understood the message and had I thought about it, reflected on it, thought what the team wanted to do, to leave Mark in first place and me finishing second... I think I would have thought about it and I would probably have done the same thing... ...There is quite a conflict, because on the one hand I am the kind of guy who respects team decisions and the other hand, probably Mark is not the one who deserved it at the time."
He then ate a reporter's liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. Reportedly, Red Bull has decided to do away with team orders; they're kinda pointless when neither driver is going to follow them anyway. The real loser in all this is the Team Principle, Christian Horner. Clearly he isn't the boss of the team, Hannibal Vettel is. Just like Webber said, no repercussions. Should be extremely interesting to see how this plays out down the road...
Meanwhile, over at Mercedes, Hamilton and Rosberg are having no problems, despite their little brush against the team orders thing last week. Unless you think that Hamilton's eye-and-nose problem on Thursday was caused by something other than Shanghai's air pollution... conspiracy!
Quals in the morning. Unfortunately, I'll be at the Duck U Bookstore until mid-afternoon. See you then!
In other words, it was dull. The track at China doesn't help matters a whit, because even down the long straight, it doesn't like the cars are going particularly fast. In fact, the big news out of today is that Seb Vettel, the man who wants to win so badly that he'll break team orders to do it, has apparently decided to drop the facade and turn full Hannibal Lecter:
"Had I understood the message and had I thought about it, reflected on it, thought what the team wanted to do, to leave Mark in first place and me finishing second... I think I would have thought about it and I would probably have done the same thing... ...There is quite a conflict, because on the one hand I am the kind of guy who respects team decisions and the other hand, probably Mark is not the one who deserved it at the time."
He then ate a reporter's liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. Reportedly, Red Bull has decided to do away with team orders; they're kinda pointless when neither driver is going to follow them anyway. The real loser in all this is the Team Principle, Christian Horner. Clearly he isn't the boss of the team, Hannibal Vettel is. Just like Webber said, no repercussions. Should be extremely interesting to see how this plays out down the road...
Meanwhile, over at Mercedes, Hamilton and Rosberg are having no problems, despite their little brush against the team orders thing last week. Unless you think that Hamilton's eye-and-nose problem on Thursday was caused by something other than Shanghai's air pollution... conspiracy!
Quals in the morning. Unfortunately, I'll be at the Duck U Bookstore until mid-afternoon. See you then!
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April 08, 2013
F1 On NBCSN: China 2013!
Well. It has been a while, hasn't it? I would think that, in this day and age, you could get from Koala Lumper to Shanghai in faster than two weeks and change, but sometimes the fastest seasonal sport on the planet can be awfully slow. Well, that's all behind us now, because we've got a race this weekend! And not just any race, oh no. It's the Grand Prix of China! Let's take a look at the track map:
Yeah, the Tilkenator is at it again. From Turn 1 to Turn 10, there's almost no point in trying to pass anybody, because he made it damn near impossible by throwing turns willy-nilly. This is one of the very few circuits on the calendar where you have to worry about smog. The engines don't run as well in it, there's a metric farkton of dust around the place due to the surrounding factories, and on and on. It's one of the few places where rain probably improves the way the cars behave.
The F1 world has been rather quiet during the past few weeks. Nobody's been crying too loudly about the tires, the Red Bull orders thingy has been swept under the rug, and there's almost been more discussion about the upcoming Grand Prix of Bahrain than about this one. Well, that's fine, too. I'd rather we pay attention to the racing than the politics of the sport, though it does put some extra pressure on the Legendary Announce Team. I have faith in them, I do I do. Here's the schedule:
FRIDAY
1am - 230a : Practice 2 live
SATURDAY
1a - 230a : Quals live
SUNDAY
130a - 430a : 2013 Grand Prix of China live, plus F1 Extra.
Because NBCSN's schedule website is so awful, please take all these times with a grain of salt, and please please please check your local listings.
Now that we've got that out of the way, we've FINALLY gotten a trailer for the upcoming F1 movie "RUSH". Let's take a look, shall we?
Ron Howard, please take all my money. Yes, this is real, and it is spectacular. It's also due September, 2013. Based on the real story of Niki Lauda and James Hunt and the 1976 season.
Yeah, the Tilkenator is at it again. From Turn 1 to Turn 10, there's almost no point in trying to pass anybody, because he made it damn near impossible by throwing turns willy-nilly. This is one of the very few circuits on the calendar where you have to worry about smog. The engines don't run as well in it, there's a metric farkton of dust around the place due to the surrounding factories, and on and on. It's one of the few places where rain probably improves the way the cars behave.
The F1 world has been rather quiet during the past few weeks. Nobody's been crying too loudly about the tires, the Red Bull orders thingy has been swept under the rug, and there's almost been more discussion about the upcoming Grand Prix of Bahrain than about this one. Well, that's fine, too. I'd rather we pay attention to the racing than the politics of the sport, though it does put some extra pressure on the Legendary Announce Team. I have faith in them, I do I do. Here's the schedule:
FRIDAY
1am - 230a : Practice 2 live
SATURDAY
1a - 230a : Quals live
SUNDAY
130a - 430a : 2013 Grand Prix of China live, plus F1 Extra.
Because NBCSN's schedule website is so awful, please take all these times with a grain of salt, and please please please check your local listings.
Now that we've got that out of the way, we've FINALLY gotten a trailer for the upcoming F1 movie "RUSH". Let's take a look, shall we?
Ron Howard, please take all my money. Yes, this is real, and it is spectacular. It's also due September, 2013. Based on the real story of Niki Lauda and James Hunt and the 1976 season.
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March 28, 2013
Take A Lap Of Monaco... With Six Strings.
I dunno if it's "real", or if he recorded it ahead of time, but I'll be darned if I care.
I like the bit with the window shades... and note the slight echo on the guitar at that point, too.
It's not content, but hey, it's better than looking at my BP numbers, right?
I like the bit with the window shades... and note the slight echo on the guitar at that point, too.
It's not content, but hey, it's better than looking at my BP numbers, right?
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March 23, 2013
F1 Quals: Malaysia 2013
They say that there are two things that are inevitable in life: death and taxes. I'd like to add a third entry: it rains in Malaysia during F1 time. Let's take a look at the provisional grid for the 2013 Grand Prix of Malaysia:
Q1 was dry, and it became apparent that the big teams were protecting their hard tires for the race. This trick very nearly backfired for Seb Vettel, who was 15th at the end of the session, a mere quarter-second away from being knocked out. This being F1, however, you can pretty much expect that Red Bull planned it that way all along. Right.
Q2, on the other hand, saw everybody lined up in the pit lane, waiting for the track to go green. Rain was coming, and lots of it... 35 miles away, the Malaysian Open golf tournament had just been called for the day by torrential rains, and the clouds rapidly heading towards the race course promised a similar fate for the guys in the fast cars. Thus, the plan was to get on track, put in a banker lap, then hope to get something faster in before the rains come. This was duly accomplished by everybody... except for Paul di Resta, who never completed his first hot lap. Instead, he drove back to the pits and the Force India mechanics started to do the usual maintenance... wipe down the car, clean the radiators, check telemetry, that sort of thing. It was seemingly only as the rain began to fall that people realized "hey, he doesn't have a time yet." Too late: he was five seconds off the pace of the next slowest car.
On the gripping hand, Q3 started off wet, but with little rain falling. Intermediate tires were the way to go, and a dry line quickly began to form. As the final session went on, one began to wonder if anybody would risk putting on a set of slick tires... it was that close to the cut-off time where the dries were as good or better. If the session was 15 minutes long, someone surely would have tried it. Alas, Q3 is only 10 minutes in length. Remarkably, Seb Vettel took pole by nearly a second over Felipe Massa, despite running less rear wing than anybody in the field. I'm not sure what that means for the race... nothing good, I expect. It's supposed to be plagued by heavy rains... if it turns out to be dry, Vettel will run away with this. If it does rain... well, I truly don't know.
Fortunately, we'll find out Sunday morning! See ya there for F1Update!
Q1 was dry, and it became apparent that the big teams were protecting their hard tires for the race. This trick very nearly backfired for Seb Vettel, who was 15th at the end of the session, a mere quarter-second away from being knocked out. This being F1, however, you can pretty much expect that Red Bull planned it that way all along. Right.
Q2, on the other hand, saw everybody lined up in the pit lane, waiting for the track to go green. Rain was coming, and lots of it... 35 miles away, the Malaysian Open golf tournament had just been called for the day by torrential rains, and the clouds rapidly heading towards the race course promised a similar fate for the guys in the fast cars. Thus, the plan was to get on track, put in a banker lap, then hope to get something faster in before the rains come. This was duly accomplished by everybody... except for Paul di Resta, who never completed his first hot lap. Instead, he drove back to the pits and the Force India mechanics started to do the usual maintenance... wipe down the car, clean the radiators, check telemetry, that sort of thing. It was seemingly only as the rain began to fall that people realized "hey, he doesn't have a time yet." Too late: he was five seconds off the pace of the next slowest car.
On the gripping hand, Q3 started off wet, but with little rain falling. Intermediate tires were the way to go, and a dry line quickly began to form. As the final session went on, one began to wonder if anybody would risk putting on a set of slick tires... it was that close to the cut-off time where the dries were as good or better. If the session was 15 minutes long, someone surely would have tried it. Alas, Q3 is only 10 minutes in length. Remarkably, Seb Vettel took pole by nearly a second over Felipe Massa, despite running less rear wing than anybody in the field. I'm not sure what that means for the race... nothing good, I expect. It's supposed to be plagued by heavy rains... if it turns out to be dry, Vettel will run away with this. If it does rain... well, I truly don't know.
Fortunately, we'll find out Sunday morning! See ya there for F1Update!
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March 22, 2013
F1 Practice: Malaysia 2013
Hello, howdy and welcome to Malaysia's Sepang International Race Circuit, where it is currently hot, humid, about to rain, and...
OMGWTFBBQ!!! IT'S THE VARSHA!!! HE'S BACK!!!!1!11!!! Okay, he's filling in for Leigh Diffey, who's calling the IndyCar season opener this weekend, but THE VARSHA IS BACK! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! We've got the entire Legendary Announce Team together again for the first time!
Everybody's terribly concerned about the tire situation for the race. Pirelli has brought the hard and medium compounds to the track, and from all reports the hards aren't lasting more than a handful of laps on the hot, hot asphalt. They rubber is just blistering and boiling off. One would assume that means the mediums will explode into flame the moment they hit the first turn, but as it turns out, they didn't wear quite as badly as the hards. No, I can't explain it either.
Esteban Gutierrez had a little problem with his Sauber: the fire extinguisher built into the car went off. While he was driving it.
I can imagine this would be... disconcerting. And, considering that the temperature and humidity were both in the 90s, perhaps refreshing as well.
And then it rained, and everybody stopped driving. Mark Webber actually said that the slicks worked better on the wet track than they did in the dry. That's Australian humor, I suppose.
I've half-arsed this post. Sorry about that. Quals in the morning.
OMGWTFBBQ!!! IT'S THE VARSHA!!! HE'S BACK!!!!1!11!!! Okay, he's filling in for Leigh Diffey, who's calling the IndyCar season opener this weekend, but THE VARSHA IS BACK! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! We've got the entire Legendary Announce Team together again for the first time!
Everybody's terribly concerned about the tire situation for the race. Pirelli has brought the hard and medium compounds to the track, and from all reports the hards aren't lasting more than a handful of laps on the hot, hot asphalt. They rubber is just blistering and boiling off. One would assume that means the mediums will explode into flame the moment they hit the first turn, but as it turns out, they didn't wear quite as badly as the hards. No, I can't explain it either.
Esteban Gutierrez had a little problem with his Sauber: the fire extinguisher built into the car went off. While he was driving it.
I can imagine this would be... disconcerting. And, considering that the temperature and humidity were both in the 90s, perhaps refreshing as well.
And then it rained, and everybody stopped driving. Mark Webber actually said that the slicks worked better on the wet track than they did in the dry. That's Australian humor, I suppose.
I've half-arsed this post. Sorry about that. Quals in the morning.
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March 18, 2013
F1 on NBCSN!: Malaysia 2013
After a rousingly entertaining Grand Prix of Australia, the traveling band of oddballs known as Formula 1 makes its way to Koala Lumper for the 2013 Grand Prix of Malaysia... and a more different circuit you could not find. Let's take a look at the track map:
The Sepang International Circuit has the honor of being our first Hermann Tilke design of the year, and oh boy aren't we the richer for it? Well, the two long straightaways broken up by the hairpin is nice, but the rest of it? If there was to be an international symbol for "meh", it would be the trackmap for Sepang. Or the logo for Windows Vista. One of the two.
Combine the uninspired layout with stupidly high humidity and temperatures, and you've got a race that's brutally difficult for the drivers. However, that's all tempered by the fact that it supposedly always rains right at race-time. Since the switch to the 5pm local start time in 2009, we've had wet races twice: last year and in the inaugural race. The forecast for this weekend is cloudy for Practice and Quals, and Biblical Apocalypse for the race. If that occurs, then the Pirelli tire choice of Hards/Softs won't come into play. As is, the tire manufacturer expects three stops if it doesn't rain... which means the teams'll do two.
Here's the NBCSN broadcast schedule for the race weekend:
FRIDAY:
1a - 230a Practice 2 Live
SATURDAY:
3a - 430a Quals Live
SUNDAY:
230a - 5a Grand Prix of Malaysia
5a - 530a F1 Extra
Looks like first practice was only being shown for Australia, which makes sense... first race of the year, first F1 broadcast ever for the channel, it gave 'em a chance to work out the kinks and so forth. As it was, I thought NBCSN did a perfectly acceptable job. They'll get their second chance this weekend, and F1Update! will be... um... paying attention. We'll see you then!
The Sepang International Circuit has the honor of being our first Hermann Tilke design of the year, and oh boy aren't we the richer for it? Well, the two long straightaways broken up by the hairpin is nice, but the rest of it? If there was to be an international symbol for "meh", it would be the trackmap for Sepang. Or the logo for Windows Vista. One of the two.
Combine the uninspired layout with stupidly high humidity and temperatures, and you've got a race that's brutally difficult for the drivers. However, that's all tempered by the fact that it supposedly always rains right at race-time. Since the switch to the 5pm local start time in 2009, we've had wet races twice: last year and in the inaugural race. The forecast for this weekend is cloudy for Practice and Quals, and Biblical Apocalypse for the race. If that occurs, then the Pirelli tire choice of Hards/Softs won't come into play. As is, the tire manufacturer expects three stops if it doesn't rain... which means the teams'll do two.
Here's the NBCSN broadcast schedule for the race weekend:
FRIDAY:
1a - 230a Practice 2 Live
SATURDAY:
3a - 430a Quals Live
SUNDAY:
230a - 5a Grand Prix of Malaysia
5a - 530a F1 Extra
Looks like first practice was only being shown for Australia, which makes sense... first race of the year, first F1 broadcast ever for the channel, it gave 'em a chance to work out the kinks and so forth. As it was, I thought NBCSN did a perfectly acceptable job. They'll get their second chance this weekend, and F1Update! will be... um... paying attention. We'll see you then!
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March 16, 2013
F1 Quals: Australia 2013... Q2 and Q3
After yesterday's soggy session, it looks like we've finally got a grid for Sunday's Grand Prix of Australia! Let's take a look, shall we?
From reports, Q2 started out wet but drying, and Q3 finished on the supersoft tires. I don't think anybody is going to be surprised by the men on the front row; if we're lucky, the Red Bulls won't dominate the whole year. I think the surprise has to be McLaren just being... slow. We'll see if it carries over through the race and the season.
The race is in a few hours, we'll have the F1U! tomorrow! See ya then!
more...
From reports, Q2 started out wet but drying, and Q3 finished on the supersoft tires. I don't think anybody is going to be surprised by the men on the front row; if we're lucky, the Red Bulls won't dominate the whole year. I think the surprise has to be McLaren just being... slow. We'll see if it carries over through the race and the season.
The race is in a few hours, we'll have the F1U! tomorrow! See ya then!
more...
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