June 30, 2018
F1 Quals: Austria 2018
It didn't rain. It needed to rain. Someone make it rain during the race, please. Here's the provisional grid for the 2018 Grand Prix of Austria:
| Pos |
Driver | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:04.175 | 1:03.756 | 1:03.130 | |
| 2 | 1:04.080 | 1:03.577 | 1:03.149 | |
| 3 | 1:04.347 | 1:03.544 | 1:03.464 | |
| 4 | 1:04.234 | 1:03.975 | 1:03.660 | |
| 5 | 1:04.273 | 1:04.001 | 1:03.840 | |
| 6 | 1:04.242 | 1:04.059 | 1:03.892 | |
| 7 | 1:04.723 | 1:04.403 | 1:03.996 | |
| 8 | 1:04.460 | 1:04.291 | 1:04.051 | |
| 9 | 1:04.948 | 1:04.561 | 1:04.725 | |
| 10 | 1:04.864 | 1:04.676 | 1:05.019 | |
| 11 | 1:05.148 | 1:04.845 | ||
| 12 | 1:05.011 | 1:04.874 | ||
| 13 | AMX-30 | 1:04.967 | 1:04.979 | |
| 14 | 1:04.965 | 1:05.058 | ||
| 15 | 1:05.264 | 1:05.286 | ||
| 16 | waffle | 1:05.271 | ||
| 17 | 1:05.279 | |||
| 18 | 1:05.322 | |||
| 19 | 1:05.366 | |||
| 20 | 1:05.479 |
Wha-wuh-whaaaaaaat? A Mercedes on the pole? You could knock me over with a feather. Really, there wasn't much in Quals today to make one sit up and take notice. Oh sure, Haas got both cars into Q3 for the second consecutive race, a first for that young team, but... well.
Race is in the morning, F1U! sometime afterwards. See ya!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
06:35 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 239 words, total size 18 kb.
June 27, 2018
F1 on The ESPNs: Austria 2018
This week, the hills are alive with the shriek of turbocharged V6s as the Formula 1 Zirkus makes its way to the Red Bull Ring in Austria! Let's take a look at the track map, shall we?
Something about this place feels off to me. Maybe it's just that it seems to be out in the middle of a field, running pleasantly up hill and down dale. That's not the way race tracks should be, y'know? Is it just me? There's nothing particularly offensive about the RedBullRing, except its name, not really. It's a track. It has more elevation change than most, it's almost all right turns, and again, I fully expect farm animals to be grazing in the background of most camera shots.
Speaking of farm animals, we get SkySports again... here's the broadcast lineup on the various ESPN channels:
Saturday
Practice 3: 5a - 630a live on ESPNews
Quals: 8a - 930a live on ESPNews
Sunday
2018 Grand Prix of Austria: 8a - 1030a live on ESPN2
F1 Update! will follow along eventually in some form or another. See ya then!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:57 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 189 words, total size 1 kb.
June 24, 2018
F1 France 2018: I Dun Goofed
This has been a day to forget.
First, I couldn't fall asleep until nearly 5am. Then I wound up not being able to get out of bed until nearly 2pm. Came out to The Pond's Viewing Room, carrying a bit of lunch and a beverage, intending to watch the race. It's all set, a good afternoon is in the making!
But the race didn't record. I spent a good couple of minutes trying to figure out exactly why it didn't record, but quickly realized it didn't matter. There's a replay I can watch, right? Yep... and it was just ending.
I'll be recording the next replay... which is at 7pm. You can see where this is going, of course. No F1U! tonight, hopefully Monday. Which is particularly annoying, as I'm on 10 hours of mandatory overtime next week. But gee whillikers, something up there apparently doesn't want watching the French Grand Prix.
...eep.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
04:07 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 159 words, total size 1 kb.
June 23, 2018
F1 Quals: France 2018
Wow, did this day get away from me! Here's the provisional grid for the 2018 Grand Prix of France:
| Pos |
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.271 | 1:30.645 | 1:30.029 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:31.776 | 1:31.227 | 1:30.147 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:31.820 | 1:30.751 | 1:30.400 |
| 4 | DH Verstappen | Red Bull Racing |
1:31.531 | 1:30.818 | 1:30.705 |
| 5 | Smiley Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing |
1:31.910 | 1:31.538 | 1:30.895 |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:31.567 | 1:30.772 | 1:31.057 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:32.394 | 1:32.016 | 1:32.126 |
| 8 | Charles AMX-30 | Sauber Ferrari | 1:32.538 | 1:32.055 | 1:32.635 |
| 9 | DP Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:32.169 | 1:31.510 | 1:32.930 |
| 10 | Lettuce Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:32.083 | 1:31.472 | DNF |
| 11 | False Esteban! | Force India |
1:32.786 | 1:32.075 | |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:32.949 | 1:32.115 | |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India |
1:32.692 | 1:32.454 | |
| 14 | Pierre Ghastly | Toro Rosso |
1:32.447 | 1:32.460 | |
| 15 | Sony Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:32.804 | 1:32.820 | |
| 16 | Meatloaf Alonso | McLaren Renault | 1:32.976 | ||
| 17 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso |
1:33.025 | ||
| 18 | Stoffelwaffle | McLaren Renault | 1:33.162 | ||
| 19 | Sergey, Sir Otkin | Williams Mercedes | 1:33.636 | ||
| 20 | Pleasant Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:33.729 |
No huge surprises at the top of the grid. Paul Ricard is the sort of circuit that rewards high horsepower, and for all its imagined faults, the Merc engine is still the best out there. It stands to reason that they'd be on pole.
What REALLY makes no sense is the Sauber of Charles AMX-30 making it into Q3, and legitimately outpacing Haas for 8th. That's quite the accomplishment for a team as down on their luck as Sauber... this AMX-30 kid looks to be quite good, y'know?
There's a decent chance of rain during the race tomorrow... let's hope so, it'll liven up a race that's looking like a snoozer... Paul Ricard is a great test track, but for racing it appears to be missing a certain something. And it causes headaches, too.
Race in the morning, F1U! after. See ya then!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
08:43 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 313 words, total size 15 kb.
June 18, 2018
F1 on The ESPNs: France 2018
Zut allors, mes amies! Break out the cheese and mimes, because we're headed back to France for the first time since 2008... merde! But vive la difference, we're not going back to that awful, awful circuit at Mangy-Curs! Instead we're headed to Circuit Paul Ricard, hon hon hon! Here's le track map:
This should be a fast track, but I'm not sure where the passing is going to be. If you watch this lap by Lewis Hamilton, the place seems awfully narrow, and despite appearances there's actually a penalty for getting off-track. Those stripes are legendarily abrasive, like they're made out of a mix of 4-grit sandpaper and thumbtacks. I exaggerate, of course, but you do not want to go out there if you like your tires.
Back in the old days, that Turn 8-9 chicane didn't exist. These days, cars would be hittin' 210mph going into Turn 10 like as not, and with the downforce and sticky tires we've got, there might not be a whole lot of deceleration going on. As is, it's gonna be fast as hell anyway.
Broadcast schedule is... well, it's limited.
Saturday
Practice 3: 6a - 730a live on ESPNews
Quals: 9a - 1030a live on ESPNews
Sunday
2018 Grand Prix of France: 9a - 12n live on ESPN2
I'm not hopeful for a good race, but we shall see!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:27 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 232 words, total size 2 kb.
June 09, 2018
F1 Quals: Canada 2018
Wow, hey, look at the time! Huh. Took me long enough. For that, I apologize... I didn't get home from lunch until nearly 4pm, watched the quals, and then it was, like 645pm and I was exhausted. So I took a nap, and now here we are. But enough of this, you're not here to revel in the mundane existence that is the life of a Wonderduck, you want to know about the exciting times of the F1 Circus! Well, here's the provisional grid for the 2018 Grand Prix du Canada:
| Pos |
Driver | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:11.710 | 1:11.524 | 1:10.764 | |
| 2 | 1:11.950 | 1:11.514 | 1:10.857 | |
| 3 | 1:12.008 | 1:11.472 | 1:10.937 | |
| 4 | 1:11.835 | 1:11.740 | 1:10.996 | |
| 5 | 1:11.725 | 1:11.620 | 1:11.095 | |
| 6 | 1:12.459 | 1:11.434 | 1:11.116 | |
| 7 | 1:12.795 | 1:11.916 | 1:11.973 | |
| 8 | 1:12.577 | 1:12.141 | 1:12.084 | |
| 9 | 1:12.689 | 1:12.097 | 1:12.168 | |
| 10 | 1:12.702 | 1:12.395 | 1:12.671 | |
| 11 | 1:12.680 | 1:12.606 | ||
| 12 | 1:12.587 | 1:12.635 | ||
| 13 | 1:12.945 | 1:12.661 | ||
| 14 | 1:12.979 | 1:12.856 | ||
| 15 | 1:12.998 | 1:12.865 | ||
| 16 | 1:13.047 | |||
| 17 | 1:13.590 | |||
| 18 | 1:13.643 | |||
| 19 | 1:14.593 |
I never thought I'd say this, but "poor Lettuce." You'll note there's only 19 cars listed... the Haas of Lettuce Grosjean never made it to the track in Q1, having had the most impressive dose of power unit problems we've seen in a long time. He was smoking as he pulled out of the garage, and once he turned onto pit lane headed for the exit, he managed to lay down just an epic smoke screen. No worries about mosquitos for the rest of the weekend, that's for sure. But he hits a marmot on Friday, now this happens on Saturday... I'm terrified for what'll occur in the race. We may see the first F1 car in the St Lawrence Seaway tomorrow.
As far as the rest of Quals went, do you realize that this is the first time in four years that Lewis Hamilton isn't on pole? Say what you want about the guy, and plenty of people have, but he owns this track. He never got hooked up today though, never managed anything but scruffy lap after scruffy lap. He knew it, too. The two Ferraris looked amazing, clearly the class of the session. The only thing that kept us from an all Red Car front row was a brief moment of lost grip early in Kimi Raikkonen's last try.
DH Verstappen has to be muttering to himself. After leading the timesheets in all three practice sessions, the newly upgraded Ferrari engine and the Mercedes Party Mode proved too much for the Red Bull to deal with. It's fast in the corners and under braking, but that advantage is nullified by the lack of power down that long, long back straight. Still, they'll be starting on the hypersoft tires while Merc and Ferrari are on the harder ultrasofts, so they'll have the grip advantage. The ultras do seem to be the tire of choice though...
Race is in the afternoon... weather permitting, we'll be watching it live for once!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:45 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 571 words, total size 20 kb.
June 07, 2018
F1 on TV: Canada 2018
So, so late! Sorry folks, I've been on overtime this week, and it's been playing hob with my existence. This is gonna have to be a quick one, here's the track map for the 2018 Grand Prix of Canada:
I do love this circuit. It's what Monaco would be if it was, y'know, fast and stuff. And had marmots.
Here's the broadcast calendar:
Friday
Practice 1: 9a - 1030a live on ESPNU
Practice 2: 1p - 230p live on ESPNU
Saturday
Practice 3: 955a - 11a live on ESPN2
Quals: 1255p - 230p live on ESPNews
Sunday
2018 Grand Prix of Canada: 1230p - 3p live on ABC
All over the damn place this weekend! Quals report sometime that afternoon (I might be having lunch with the folks), F1U! sometime after the race. See ya then!!!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:43 PM
| Comments (7)
| Add Comment
Post contains 141 words, total size 1 kb.
<< Page 1 of 1 >>
94kb generated in CPU 0.0915, elapsed 0.2475 seconds.
49 queries taking 0.2269 seconds, 261 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
49 queries taking 0.2269 seconds, 261 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
