Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Circuit of the Americas – United States Gran Prix – Austin(Texas)
2° edition (18th round of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship)
The US Grand Prix has a long history in Formula One, but with different denominations(Usa, Usa West, Usa Est and so on). The races were held on different circuits in the past: Watkins Glen(by far the best), Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix, Indianapolis and others. From last year the GP takes place in Texas at Austin. The track is good enough with varying elevation changes. The first part of the circuit is the best with an uphill curve, similar at the beginning of old and fabulous Osterreichring circuit in Austria, then there is a high speed Esses section like to Maggotts/Beckets/Chapel complex at Silverstone. In the second sector there's a long straight, with a hairpin at either end. The third sector is the slowest part of the track. The Circuit of the Americas is quite demanding for tyres, above all in the high-speed first sector. Pirelli will bring hard compound(orange stripe) and medium compound (white stripe). The same combination used this year on many circuits (Monza Spa Sepang, Suzuka and others. There will be two DRS zones on the start finish straight and on the long straight in the second sector between Turn n. 11 and n. 12
winner, Podium and pole position(2012):
1°Hamilton(Mc Laren) 2° Vettel and 3° Alonso - Fastest lap: Vettel pole position : Vettel 1'35''657
last year free practice one: 1.38.125 - fp2: 1.37.718 - fp3: 1.36.490
The stats of this season(2013) after 17 races.
First place: Vettel(11; the last seven consecutive) Alonso and Rosberg(2); Raikkonen and Hamilton (1)
Second place: Raikkonen(6) Alonso(5); Webber(4); Vettel and Rosberg(1)
Third place: Grosjean(5) Hamilton(4) Vettel and Webber(2); Raikkonen, Rosberg, Alonso and Massa(1)
Total Podium: Vettel(14); Alonso and Raikkonen(8); Webber(6) Hamilton and Grosjean (5); Rosberg (4); Massa(1).
Pole position: Vettel (7) – Hamilton (5) – Rosberg (3) – Webber(2)

McLaren(season 2014) The Mexican Sergio Perez will be replaced by Kevin Magnussen.
In this season the Danish has deservedly won the World Series by formula Renault 3,5.
Second place for another young driver: the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne.
Both highly promising young drivers.
Winner gp3 championship: Daniil Kvyat – next season the Russian will drive for Toro Rosso

sergio perez will no longer mc laren f1 driver from the next year....he (probably) will be replaced by kevin magnussen

Official news : Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen will replace compatriot Kimi Raikkonen
driving Lotus in USA GP this week.

Sergio Perez will leave McLaren after only one season and Kevin Magnussen will probably
replace him, even if no contract has been signed yet.

Next year Felipe Massa will drive a Williams, replacing Pastor Maldonado,
with the confirmed Valtteri Bottas.
"I'm very happy" said Felipe "because Williams is one of the cars I dreamt
to drive as a child".

Today, during the Ferrari Day in Mugello, Felipe Massa said goodbye to all Ferrari fans after 8 years,
11 victories, 15 pole positions and 36 podiums.
He shared Ferrari with super champions like Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
He said :"I'm not a frustrated driver, I'm a driver happy for all the time spent in this wonderful team".
THANK YOU, FELIPE

Kimi Raikkonen to miss rest of 2013 F1 season for back surgery :
Kimi Raikkonen is to miss the final two races of the 2013 Formula 1 season after electing to undergo back surgery next week.
The Finn had been at the centre of a pay dispute with his Lotus bosses in Abu Dhabi last weekend, but it appeared that matters had been sorted so he could compete in the United States and Brazil. However, in a fresh twist, the back issues that nearly forced Raikkonen out of the Singapore Grand Prix earlier this year flared up enough for him to choose to take early surgery. Rather than travel to the United States for the final events of the season, Raikkonen will now fly to Salzburg for the operation.His manager Steve Robertson confirmed that Raikkonen's 2013 campaign was over, as it is estimated that there is a four-week recovery period.
The news was first broken in Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat. Had Raikkonen waited until after the season, then there was a chance that it could have impacted on his preparations for 2014 with Ferrari. Robertson told : "In an ideal world it would have been nice to finish the season with Lotus in the final two grands prix. "However, due to the severe pain that Kimi is having, sadly it is not possible."
It is unclear how Raikkonen's absence will impact on his pay issues with Lotus, especially with the team's new investor Quantum Motorsports having not yet finalised its 35 per cent buy-in to the outfit. Lotus now has just a few days to decide on a replacement driver. It could decide to promote reserve driver Davide Valsecchi to the race seat or swoop for another available driver.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Kimi Raikkonen 2013 World Championship ended in Abu Dhabi
The Finnish driver decided to be operated on his back next week,
so he will skip the last two races in USA and Brazil.
Italian driver Davide Valsecchi will probably replace him

10/11/1965 eddie irvine former british f1 driver
[Verstecktes Bild - Registrierung notwendig]

04/11/1953 jacques villeneuve sr former canadian driver
[Verstecktes Bild - Registrierung notwendig]

2013 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
[Versteckter Link - Registrierung notwendig]
Fri 15 November 2013
Practice 1 16:00 - 17:30
Practice 2 20:00 - 21:30
Sat 16 November 2013
Practice 3 16:00 - 17:00
Qualifying 19:00
Sun 17 November 2013
Race 20:00

Driver Standings after the Abu Dhabi race :

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault - 347
2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 217
3. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus-Renault - 183
4. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 176
5. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault - 166
6. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 159
7. Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Renault - 114
8. Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 106
9. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes - 60
10. Paul di Resta - Force India-Mercedes - 48
11. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber-Ferrari - 39
12. Sergio Perez - McLaren-Mercedes - 35
13. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes - 29
14. Daniel Riccardio - Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 19
15. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 13
16. Esteban Guttierez - Sauber-Ferrari - 6
17. Pastor Maldonado - Williams-Renault - 1

Constructor Standings after the Abu Dhabi race :

1. Red Bull -Renault - 513
2. Mercedes GP - 334
3. Ferrari - 323
4. Lotus -Renault - 297
5. McLaren-Mercedes - 95
6. Force India-Mercedes - 77
7. Sauber-Ferrari - 45
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 32
9. Williams-Renault - 1

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Result of the race :

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing 1h38m06.106
2. Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing + 30.8
3. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP + 33.6
4. Romain Grosjean - Lotus + 34.8
5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari + 1m07.1 55
6. Paul di Resta - Force India + 1m18.1
7. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP + 1m19.2
8. Felipe Massa - Ferrari + 1m22.8
9. Adrian Sutil - Force India + 1m31.1
10. Sergio Perez - McLaren + 1m33.2
11. Pastor Maldonado - Williams + 1m35.9
12. Jenson Button - McLaren + 1m43.6
13. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber + 1m44.1
14. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber + 1 lap
15. Valtteri Bottas - Williams + 1lap
16. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso + 1 lap
17. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso + 1 lap
18. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham + 1 lap
19. Charles Pic - Caterham + 1 lap
20. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team + 2 laps
21. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team + 2 laps
Did Not Finish :
22. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus

Fastest Lap : Fernando Alonso - 1:43.434
Pitstop Jules Bianchi : 2 ( lap 5 - lap 33 )
Bat. 2 Teams : Felipe Massa > Sergio Perez
Grid Pos. Fernando Alonso : 5th place

Warning !!! : It's this result that will count for our game !!! ( because i'm sure that Alonso will get a penalty for his action coming back on track after his pitstop !

Vettel wins seventh in a row at Abu Dhabi GP :
Sebastian Vettel crushed the field to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in his Red Bull-Renault today 30.8 seconds ahead of his team mate Mark Webber and 33.6 seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes GP in third. The win is Vettel's eleventh of the 2013 season and 38th career win. Romain Grosjean (34.8s) in the Lotus-Renault finished in fourth, followed by Fernando Alonso (1m07.1s) in the Ferrari in fifth, Paul Di Resta (1m18.1s) in the Force India-Mercedes was sixth, Lewis Hamilton (1m19.2s) in the second Mercedes GP was seventh, Felipe Massa (1m22.8s) in the second Ferrari was eighth, Sergio Perez in the McLaren-Mercedes was ninth, and Adrian Sutil (1m33.2s) in the Force India was in the final points position in tenth. Before the start, Kimi Raikkonen who qualified fifth, failed the post qualifying floor deflection test, and will start from the back of the field. Pirelli comes to Abu Dhabi with the white marked medium tyre compound and the yellow-marked soft tyre, with a 1.5 to 2 second difference between the two, optimally looking for a one-stop strategy. The top nine qualifiers and Raikkonen starting on the soft tyre. Hamilton reported a vibration on the way to the grid. At the start, Vettel takes the lead over Rosberg and pole-sitter Webber, Grosjean and Hamilton.
Raikkonen makes contact with Charles Pic at the first corner, breaks his steering and is out on the spot and retires. Webber challenges Rosberg. Alonso passes his team mate Massa, but the Brazilian comes back and repasses for seventh. Jenson Button reports damage to his front wing. On lap 2 Vettel sets fast lap at 1m47.1 seconds. On lap 3 Button pit for a new front wing and switches to soft tyres. At lap 5 Vettel has 4.7 second lead over Rosberg, followed by Webber (6.6s), Grosjean (7.5s), Hamilton (8.9s), Nico Hulkenberg (11.2s), Massa (12.7s), Alonso (14.1s), Perez (15.3s) and Di Resta (16.2s) in tenth. Vettel sets fast lap at 1m46.4s. Alonso looking for a way past Massa. On lap 6 Webber asks if there is a problem with his KERS and the team replies "it's a bit empty at the moment , we'll charge it up". Pastor Maldonado pits for medium tyres. On lap 7 Perez pits and switches to medium tyres. Max Chilton pits as well. On lap 8 Hamilton pits from fifth place and switches to medium tyres. Daniel Ricciardo pits as well for medium tyres. On lap 9 Webber and Grosjean pits from third and fourth place switching to medium tyres rejoining in 10th and 11th ahead of Hamilton. Pic pits as well. Webber passes Gutierrez for ninth place. Vettel's lead is up to 8.2 seconds over Rosberg. Vettel is lapping in the 1m46s range, the others in 1m47 and 1m48s. On lap 10 Hulkenberg pits from fourth place switching to medium tyres. Rosberg reports his rear tyres are finished. Grosjean passes Esteban Gutierrez for ninth. On lap 11 Rosberg pits from second place switching to medium tyres. On lap 12 Button pits for the second time and switches to medium tyres. Vettel, yet to stop has a 24 second lead over Massa, Alonso, Di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne. Vettel should be able to pit and still come out in the lead. On lap 13 Hamilton closes on Gutierrez in tenth place. Webber is closing on Sutil for seventh. On lap 15 Vettel pits from the lead and switches to medium compound tyres, and comes back out in the lead. Rosberg passes Vergne for fifth place. At lap 15 Vettel leads Massa by 6.6 seconds, followed by Alonso (10.6s), Di Resta (13.5s), Rosberg (16.6s), Vergne (17.6s), Webber (18.3s), Sutil (20.3s), Grosjean (20.8s) and Gutierrez (26.5s) in tenth place. Hamilton runs 11th, Hulkenberg 12th.On lap 16 Webber passes Vergne for sixth. Grosjean passes Sutil for eighth, but the German comes back in the DRS zone and passes back. On lap 17 Alonso pits from third place, switching to medium tyres. Hamilton is still stuck behind Gutierrez in ninth place. Vettel fast lap at 1m46.0s. On lap 19 Grosjean passes Sutil for sixth place. Hulkenberg closes on the Gutierrez/Hamilton fight. On lap 20 Massa makes his first stop from second place switching to medium tyres. Gutierrez pits as well for soft tyres. Webber passes Rosberg for third place in the DRS zone.
At lap 20 Vettel leads Webber by 26.5 seconds ahead of Rosberg (27.4s), Di Resta (27.7s), Grosjean (30.9s), Sutil (36.2s), Hamilton (39.9s), Massa (40.9s), Hulkenberg (42.0s) and Valtteri Bottas (43.8s) in tenth place. On lap 21 Di Resta makes his first stop for medium tyres from second place. Sutil and Bottas yet to pit.On lap 22 Alonso passes Perez for tenth place. Alonso then passes Bottas at the chicane for ninth place the next lap. On lap 24 Hamilton is challenging Sutil, yet to stop, in fifth place. On lap 25 Guido Van der Garde passes his team mate Pic for 18th place. Hamilton passes Sutil, then Sutil comes back and takes back the place. Massa takes advantage and slips down the inside of Hamilton for sixth place. On lap 26 Alonso passes Hulkenberg, but the German takes back eighth place. Massa passes Sutil for fifth. Alonso finally passes Hulkenberg for eighth. On lap 28 Hamilton passes Sutil for sixth. Hulkenberg and Perez both pit - the two battling in the pitlane. On lap 29 Alonso passes Sutil, still yet to stop after half distance, for seventh. Perez is challenging Maldonado for 15th place. Hulkenberg is under investigation for an unsafe release ahead of Perez. On lap 30 Sutil finally makes his first pit stop. Hamilton pits for a second time. At lap 30 Vettel continues to dominate, and leads his Red Bull team mate Webber by 29.5 seconds, followed by Rosberg (32.6s), Grosjean (36.9s), Massa (56.4s), Alonso (59.7s), Di Resta (65.5s), Vergne (68.5s), Gutierrez (74.1s) and Hamilton (79.9s) in tenth place. On lap 31 Vettel sets another fast lap at 1m45.9s. Gutierrez makes his second stop for medium tyres. On lap 33 Jules Bianchi pits. On lap 34 Webber and Rosberg pit from second and third places, taking another set of medium compound tyres. On lap 35 Hulkenberg pits from 11th place to serve a drive-through penalty for his earlier unsafe release in front of Perez. Alonso is closing on his Ferrari team mate Massa. Vettel increases his lead over Grosjean to 40 seconds. On lap 37 Rosberg sets fast lap at 1m45.6s. On lap 38 Vettel makes his final pitstop from the lead for another set of medium tyres and rejoins still in the lead. Grosjean pits from second place for medium tyres as well rejoining just in front of Massa in fifth. On lap 39 Massa pits from fifth place for his second stop for more medium tyres, a problem with the left front wheel for a slow stop. Vettel sets fast lap at 1m44.8s. At lap 40 Vettel continues out front of his team mate Webber by 32.5 seconds, followed by Rosberg (36.7), Grosjean (42.9s), Alonso (46.3s), Di Resta (58.8s), Vergne (62.4s), Hamilton (65.2s), Massa (67.2s) and Bottas (69.3s) in tenth place. On lap 42 Hamilton closes on Vergne in seventh place. On lap 45 Hamilton passes Vergne for seventh. Alonso pits from fifth place and switches to soft tyres. Alonso passes Vergne for seventh as he rejoins the track and is pushed off the track by the French driver - Massa just behind. The incident will be looked at by the stewards. On lap 46 Bottas makes his second stop and switches to soft tyres. On lap 47 Massa passes Vergne in DRS zone for eighth place. Alonso sets fast lap at 1m44.6s. Sutil passes Vergne on old tyres for ninth place. On lap 48 Alonso sets another fast lap at 1m44.4s. Alonso closing on Hamilton in sixth place. On lap 49 Perez passes Vergne for tenth, the Toro Rosso driver continuing to fail down the order. On lap 50 Maldonado passes Vergne as well for 11th place. On lap 51 Alonso passes Hamilton for sixth place and he now chases Di Resta in fifth. Grosjean sets fast lap at 1m44.3s. On lap 52 Vettel sets fast lap at 1m43.8 seconds. Alonso passes Di Resta for fifth place. Alonso's earlier pass on Vergne will be investigated after the race. At lap 52 Vettel leads Webber by 30.0 seconds, followed by Rosberg (34.7s), Grosjean (37.3s), Alonso (74.3s), Di Resta (76.5s), Hamilton (77.2s), Massa (80.7s), Sutil (86.3s) and Perez (87.8s) in tenth place. On lap 53 Vergne makes his second pitstop. Alonso sets fast lap at 1m43.6s. Hamilton is closing on Di Resta in sixth place. Vettel crosses the line and wins his 11th race of the 2013 season, and his seventh in a row since the Belgian GP in August. On the final lap Alonso sets the fastest lap of the race at 1m43.434 seconds.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

From pole to 3.
Typical Webber start this season.

News Update !!!!!!!

Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus excluded from qualifying :
Kimi Raikkonen has been excluded from qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following a front floor deflection test failure.
Representatives of his Lotus team were summoned to see the race stewards in Abu Dhabi after it was found that Raikkonen's car did not conform to the regulations. The left hand side of the floor was found to deflect more than the permitted 5mm vertically when the testing load was applied to it. Investigations by Lotus found that the issue had been caused by a broken floor due to kerb damage, but the stewards did not accept the explanation. He has been excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start from the back of the grid.
FIA Rejects TEAM Explanation :
A statement issued by the FIA said: "The stewards heard the explanation of the team that the relevant part broke upon contact with a kerb. "However, the stewards did not accept that the incident referred to constituted an accident, or excused failing the relevant test."
Gp.news understands that the stewards did not accept the explanation, unlike when there was a similar situation with Romain Grosjean in Hungary, because it did not feel that the incident at Turn 3 where Raikkonen ran off the track and broke the floor should be considered as accidental damage. Kimi Raikkonen F1 2013 . Raikkonen's penalty means that he will not be able to take up his best grid slot since the German Grand Prix in July, having qualified fifth.
"The team respects the stewards' decision," team principal Eric Boullier said. "No advantage was sought or gained in the incident and the relevant part has been replaced. "We've seen what Kimi can do to work through the field when he needs to and we are going all out for the strongest result possible." For the Abu Dhabi weekend Raikkonen has reverted to the shorter wheelbase version of the E21 after feeling that the longer version did not suit his driving style. "We wanted to do it in previous races already but some races we could not," said the Finn. "I was told it was maybe an area where I can get the car like I want, so it has been OK.
"I think it doesn't need to be a big change, but if you get the front end as I like it, then I can drive normally and everything comes more to like it should be. At least here today was not too bad."

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

[Versteckter Link - Registrierung notwendig] about Kimi Raikkonen.