Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Result of the 3rd practice session :

1 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes 1’10.446
2 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes 1’10.560 0.114
3 Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes 1’10.875 0.429
4 Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes 1’11.054 0.608
5 Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull-Renault 1’11.188 0.742
6 Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes 1’11.210 0.764
7 Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari 1’11.316 0.870
8 Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 1’11.399 0.953
9 Kevin Magnussen - McLaren-Mercedes 1’11.499 1.053
10 Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso-Renault 1’11.834 1.388
11 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault 1’11.967 1.521
12 Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Renault 1’12.069 1.623
13 Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Renault 1’12.235 1.789
14 Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso-Renault 1’12.235 1.789
15 Adrian Sutil - Sauber-Ferrari 1’12.280 1.834
16 Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber-Ferrari 1’12.286 1.840
17 Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes 1’12.324 1.878
18 Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes 1’12.942 2.496

Rosberg nears record-breaking pace in final practice :
Nico Rosberg continued to set the pace at Interlagos, heading the times for the third session in a row, followed by team mate Lewis Hamilton. Times continued to fall on the resurfaced Interlagos circuit, and Rosberg’s session-topping lap of 1’10.446 was faster than any pole position seen at the circuit, and just six tenths of a second off the record time, set ten years ago. Hamilton had a spin at turn one earlier in the session but the first sector was the only part of the lap where he was able to beat Rosberg. His team mate found most of his advantage in the twisty middle part of the lap. The pair bided their time early in the session while the Williams pair set the pace. They ended the session in third and fourth places, with Felipe Massa the only other driver to lap the track in under 71 seconds. Daniel Ricciardo was fifth fastest but team mate Sebastian Vettel ended the session outside the top ten. The Force India pair struggled as well, ending up at the bottom of the times. The final practice session ran in dry conditions following overnight rain. Esteban Gutierrez was almost caught out by the rain which had collected in the exit kerb at Juncao, the Sauber snapping sideways during one of his early laps. However there were no incidents during the session, which was the first of the weekend not to be interrupted by a red flag.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 2nd practice session :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:12.123
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:12.336 +0.213
3. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:12.696 +0.573
4. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:12.956 +0.833
5. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:13.035 +0.912
6. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:13.099 +0.976
7. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:13.122 +0.999
8. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:13.254 +1.131
9. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:13.333 +1.210
10. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:13.479 +1.356
11. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:13.497 +1.374
12. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:13.714 +1.591
13. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:13.882 +1.759
14. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:13.902 +1.779
15. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:14.204 +2.081
16. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:14.209 +2.086
17. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:17.171 +5.048
18. Sergio Perez - Force India - no time

Rosberg stays fastest in interrupted session :
Nico Rosberg remained on top during second practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, getting the better of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a session interrupted by three red flag periods.Rosberg clocked a 1:12.123 on Pirelli's Soft tyre, two tenths quicker than Hamilton after the championship leader made a mess of his run.Hamilton took a handful of laps – on rapidly degrading tyres – to post a representative time, admitting to his engineer over the radio that "the car feels good, I just haven't hooked up a lap". Despite adding another off-track excursion to his name, Kimi Räikkönen ended the session third fastest, half a second adrift of Rosberg. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was the final driver to lap below the 1m13s barrier in fourth, just ahead of Williams duo Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Fernando Alonso missed out on the final 25 minutes of running after his Ferrari caught fire and brought out the red flags, but held on to seventh position. Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat slipped back to eighth as temperatures rose, while the remaining Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen's McLaren completed the top 10.
Lotus drivers Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean were next up, the Frenchman again complaining about the handling of his car in the closing stages of the session. Nico Hülkenberg was the only Force India driver in action on his way to 13th, with Sergio Pérez forced to watch from the sidelines as lengthy repairs continued following Daniel Juncadella's morning crash. More technical issues saw Esteban Gutiérrez stop and cause a brief delay on the same back-straight stretch as Alonso's incident, although he still beat Sauber team-mate Adrian Sutil to 14th. McLaren's Jenson Button had a low key session, finishing almost a second slower than team-mate Magnussen as he focused on recovering lost mileage after his FP1 woes. Jean-Éric Vergne was the slowest of the timed runners, completing just five laps before his Toro Rosso stopped just after Turn 3 and signalled the first red flag period.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 1st practice session :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:12.764
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:12.985 +0.221
3. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:13.723 +0.959
4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:13.742 +0.978
5. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:13.811 +1.047
6. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:13.827 +1.063
7. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:14.034 +1.270
8. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:14.114 +1.350
9. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:14.136 +1.372
10. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:14.197 +1.433
11. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:14.434 +1.670
12. Felipe Nasr - Williams - 1:14.522 +1.758
13. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:14.678 +1.914
14. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:14.902 +2.138
15. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:15.109 +2.345
16. Daniel Juncadella - Force India - 1:16.030 +3.266
17. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber -no time
18. Jenson Button - McLaren -no time

Rosberg pips Hamilton in 1st Brazil practice :
Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time during first practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, as the pair finished almost a second clear of their nearest rivals.Rosberg produced a 1:12.764 as lap times gradually improved at a resurfaced Interlagos track, just over two tenths quicker than Hamilton.Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat finished as the best of the rest in third, edging out Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Williams driver Felipe Massa. Max Verstappen ensured that both Toro Rosso machines finished inside the top six, the Dutch teenager escaping from numerous wild moments.
Taking part in his third F1 practice session, the 17-year-old held a massive slide through Mergulho, before locking up heavily and using the Turn 1 escape road. Pastor Maldonado, fresh from his first points finish of the season, set the seventh quickest time, with Kimi Räikkönen eighth despite two late spins. With team-mate Jenson Button stopping on his installation lap and failing to rejoin the track, Kevin Magnussen was left to gather data for both McLaren cars en route to ninth. A quiet start to the weekend for Red Bull, which has won four of the past five races at the São Paulo venue, saw Daniel Ricciardo place 10th and Sebastian Vettel 14th. Felipe Nasr and Daniel Juncadella were the others to make practice appearances, replacing Valtteri Bottas at Williams and Sergio Pérez at Force India respectively. While future Sauber racer Nasr enjoyed a smooth run on his way to 12th, seven tenths down on Massa, Juncadella ended his session in the tyre barriers. The former Formula 3 Euro Series Champion lost control of his car under braking for Turn 8, before ripping the front-end off his car and bringing out the red flags.In addition to Button, who reported that "everything switched off" at the end of his out lap, Sauber's Esteban Gutiérrez failed to post a time amid technical problems.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

[Versteckter Link - Registrierung notwendig]

Interlagos Circuit – autodromo José Carlos Pace (San Paolo do Brazil) – 7-8-9 November 2014
how many memories here. Senna's victory in 1991 is unforgettable. how much time has gone.
This circuit is the second-shortest lap of the season after Monaco and for me is one of the most interesting track of the season. Interlagos runs anti-clockwise and it's a tricky circuit. The track has been completely re-surfaced. and also the pit entry and exit are a bit different than before.
For this week end race, Pirelli will bring Soft (Yellow-marked) and Medium (White-marked) compounds,
a different choice than last year (in 2013 there were hard and medium tyres)
traditionally there is a high risk of rain.
2013 winning strategy: Two pitstops (lap 24 and 47)

2011 Podium: Webber (Red Bull) – 2° Vettel and 3° Button
pole position : Vettel (Red Bull) 1.11.918

2012 Podium: Button (Mc Laren) – 2°Alonso and 3° Massa
Pole position : Hamilton (Mc Laren) 1.12.458

2013 Podium: Vettel (Red Bull) – 2° Webber and 3° Alonso
pole position : Vettel (Red Bull) ; 1.26.479(wet condition)

the winners at Interlagos
2 wins: Massa(2006 - 2008) and Vettel (2010-2013)
1 win: Raikkonen(2007) Button(2012)
No wins for Alonso and Hamilton

pole position:
3 pole: Massa (2006-2007-2008)
2 pole: Vettel (2011-2013)
1 pole: Hamilton (2012) Hulkenberg(2010), Alonso(2005)

Fastest lap.
2: Raikkonen(2005-2007); Hamilton (2010-2012)
1: Massa (2008);

Podium(winner+second+third) for current pilots at Interlagos
8 (0 win +3 second +5third) Alonso
5 (1+3+1) Raikkonen
4 (2+1+1) Massa
3 (2+1+0) Vettel
2 (1+0+2) Button
1 (0+0+1) Hamilton
Rosberg never on podium

Season 2014: stats after 17 races:
Wins: Hamilton (10); Rosberg (4) and Ricciardo(3)
Podium Hamilton and Rosberg (14); Ricciardo(8) Bottas(5) Vettel(4) Alonso(2) Magnussen, Button Perez and Massa(1)
Pole: Rosberg (9): Hamilton (7) Massa (1)
Fastest Lap: Hamilton (6); Rosberg(5); Vettel(2) Raikkonen, Perez, Massa and Bottas (1)

The broadcasting hours for this weekend Brazilian GP :

Friday 07/11 :
1st practice session : 13.00u - 14.30u CET
2nd practice session : 17.00u - 18.30u CET

Saturday 08/11 :
3rd practice session : 14.00u 15.00u CET
Qualifying : 17.00u - 18.00u CET

Sunday 09/11 :
Race : 17.00u CET

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Brazilian channel TV Globo announced today that the 22 y.o. Brazilian Felipe Nasr will be Sauber official driver for the 2015
season together with Marcus Ericsson, replacing Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez, even if Sutil has another year of contract
and doesn' t want to leave Sauber : "I have to speak with the team" he said "it' s not sure yet that Ericsson and Nasr will be the 2015 drivers".
But Nasr is quite sure about it : "I wanted to be a Sauber driver, it' s a dream coming true, like Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen I wanted to make
my debut in F1 with Sauber and I' m sure it will be a good opportunity for me".

Sergio Perez (Force India) sanctioned with 7 places penalty in Brazilian GP grid for causing the collision with Adrian Sutil and
Kimi Raikkonen during the first lap of USA GP.

Race result of the USA GP :

1. Lewis Hamilton -Mercedes GP
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing
4. Felipe Massa - Williams
5. Valtteri Bottas - Williams
6. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
7. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing 1:41.379
8. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren
9. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso
10. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus
11. Romain Grosjean - Lotus
12. Jenson Button - McLaren
13. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari
14. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber
15. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso
Did Not Finish :
16. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India
17. Sergio Perez - Force India
18. Adrian Sutil - Sauber

Fastest Lap : Sebastian Vettel - 1:41.379
Pitstop Felipe Massa : 2 ( lap 14 - 32 )
Bat 2 Teams : Daniel Ricciardo > Fernando Alonso
Grid Pos. Adrian Sutil : DNF

Hamilton wins in Austin to beat Mansell record :
Lewis Hamilton became the most successful British driver in Formula 1 history and strengthened his grip on the 2014 title by overcoming Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the United States Grand Prix. Having initially struggled to stay on terms with Rosberg, Hamilton upped his pace from the second stint and pulled off a decisive move for the lead midway through. The resulting win put Hamilton on 32 career victories, one ahead of Nigel Mansell, while his current streak extends to a career-best five races.
Hamilton now holds a 24-point lead over Rosberg, meaning the title fight will go down to the double points season finale in Abu Dhabi. Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium for Red Bull, having realised his pre-race ambition of jumping the Williams duo.
As the lights went out, pole-sitter Rosberg made a smooth start to keep Hamilton at bay, while Felipe Massa got the jump on team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The race was soon neutralised, with a clash involving Force India's Sergio Pérez and Sauber's Adrian Sutil – ending both their races – bringing out the Safety Car. Rosberg remained his composure as the debris was removed and jumped clear at the restart, with Hamilton falling further back over the following laps as he appeared to struggle on the Soft rubber. But the Briton made what would turn out to be a crucial decision at the first round of stops, putting on extra clicks of front wing for the first stint on Mediums. Hamilton soon arrived at the rear of Rosberg's car and, with the assistance of DRS, dived up the inside at Turn 12 on Lap 24 to take over at the front. With no drama at the final round of stops, Hamilton's route to the chequered flag was a clear one, as he confidently responded to any surges in pace from Rosberg. Ricciardo took third with a spirited drive, jumping Bottas and Massa – the only frontrunners to opt for two consecutive Soft-tyre stints – at the first and second stops respectively.
Fernando Alonso, over a minute further back, narrowly held off the charging Sebastian Vettel for sixth, both men making late switches to the Soft rubber. Kevin Magnussen gave McLaren its only points of the day in eighth, with team-mate Jenson Button tumbling down the order late on amid balance problems. Jean-Éric Vergne took ninth after a five-second stop/go penalty was applied to Pastor Maldonado – who scores for the first time this season – for speeding in the pits. But the Frenchman remains under investigation for barging past compatriot Romain Grosjean at Turn 1 in the closing stages of the race. Grosjean ultimately classified 11th, just ahead of the ailing Button, while Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen, Sauber's Esteban Gutiérrez and Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat were the final finishers. Nico Hülkenberg joined Sutil and team-mate Pérez on the sidelines after 18 laps when his car ground to a halt with a technical problem on the back straight.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 17 RACES :

1. Mercedes 608 points
2. Red Bull 363 points
3. Williams 238 points
4. Ferrari 196 points
5. McLaren 147 points
6. Force India 123 points
7. Toro Rosso 30 points
8. Lotus 10 points
9. Marussia 2 points

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 17 RACES :

1. L. Hamilton GBR Mercedes 316 points
2. N. Rosberg GER Mercedes 292 points
3. D. Ricciardo AUS Red Bull 214 points
4. V. Bottas FIN Williams 155 points
5. F. Alonso ESP Ferrari & S. Vettel GER Red Bull 149 points
7. J. Button GBR McLaren 94 points
8. F. Massa BRA Williams 83 points
9. N. Hulkenberg GER Force India 76 points
10. K. Magnussen DEN McLaren 53 points
11. K. Raikkonen FIN Ferrari & S. Perez MEX Force India 47 points
13. J. E. Vergne FRA Toro Rosso 22 points
14. R. Grosjean FRA Lotus & D. Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso 8 points
16. J. Bianchi FRA Marussia & P. Maldonado VEN Lotus 2 points

Result of the qualifying :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP 1:36.067
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP 1:36.443 +0.376
3. Valtteri Bottas - Williams 1:36.906 +0.839
4. Felipe Massa - Williams 1:37.205 +1.138
5. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing 1:37.244 +1.177
6. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 1:37.610 +1.543
7. Jenson Button - McLaren 1:37.655 +1.588
8. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren 1:37.706 +1.639
9. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari 1:37.804 +1.737
10. Adrian Sutil - Sauber 1:37.810 +1.743
Q2
11. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:38.467 +2.400
12. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:38.554 +2.487
13. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:38.598 +2.531
14. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:38.699 +2.632
Q1
15. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:39.250 +3.183
16. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:39.555 +3.488
17. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:39.621 +3.554
18. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:39.679 +3.612

Qualifying Time : 1:36.067
Pole : Nico Rosberg
Team Battle : Jenson Button > Kevin Magnussen
Grid Pos. Sergio Perez : 12th place


Rosberg beats Hamilton to Austin pole :
Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the United States Grand Prix, lapping almost four tenths of a second faster in Saturday's qualifying session. Gradually gaining momentum as the hour wore on, Rosberg clocked a 1:36.067 in the final shootout, 0.376 seconds faster than Hamilton. Hamilton had topped the opening segment, but repeatedly complained of locking tyres and was unable to live with Rosberg's ever-improving pace. Rosberg can no longer be beaten outright to the pole trophy by Hamilton, with the qualifying record standing at 9-7 ahead of the final two rounds. Williams locked out the second row of the grid, Valtteri Bottas getting the better of team-mate Felipe Massa by three tenths of a second. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo improved on his second run to place place fifth, ahead Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen wound up seventh and eighth, but the 2009 World Champion will drop five places on the grid due to a gearbox change. Kimi Räikkönen was the slowest of the runners to complete two runs, with Sauber's Adrian Sutil opting for a sole flyer after making it through to Q3 for the first time this season. Pastor Maldonado was on course to beat Sutil to the final shootout, but made a mess of the final two corners on his last Q2 effort and had to settle for 11th. The Lotus driver was eliminated from the second phase with Force India duo Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg, and Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat.
Kvyat falls to the back of the grid for taking on a seventh Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), with a portion of the 10-place penalty to be carried over to the Brazilian Grand Prix. Jean-Éric Vergne fell at the first qualifying hurdle, a phase which also claimed Sauber's Esteban Gutiérrez, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean's Lotus. Vettel completed just one flying lap en route to 17th. The quadruple World Champion starts tomorrow's race from the pit lane for an entire power unit change. Grosjean was on target to get himself out of trouble but locked up and ran wide on his final lap, leading to the Frenchman apologising over the radio.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 3rd practice session :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:37.107
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:37.990 +0.883
3. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:38.214 +1.107
4. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:38.437 +1.330
5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:38.727 +1.620
6. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:38.927 +1.820
7. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:38.960 +1.853
8. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:39.000 +1.893
9. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:39.143 +2.036
10. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:39.241 +2.134
11. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:39.335 +2.228
12. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:39.448 +2.341
13. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:39.561 +2.454
14. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:39.582 +2.475
15. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:39.688 +2.581
16. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:40.208 +3.101
17. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:41.443 +4.336
18. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:43.765 +6.658

Hamilton comfortably fastest in final practice :
Lewis Hamilton completed a clean sweep of practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas by heading the final hour of running ahead of qualifying. The Mercedes driver lowered the best time of the weekend to a 1’37.107 but team mate Nico Rosberg was over eight tenths of a second slower. Rosberg was twice called into the pits to have his brakes examined as the team addressed an offset in performance between the two sides of his car. It wasn’t plain sailing for Hamilton either, who spun his car at turn 12 towards the end of his running on the medium tyres. Williams showed their hand in final practice but their quickest driver, Felipe Massa, was well over a second slower than Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas ensured the Grove cars were decisively best of the rest.
Fernando Alonso was fifth-quickest for Ferrari while Kimi Raikkonen, ninth, was troubled by a vibration on his car. Daniel Ricciardo put Red Bull sixth. Sebastian Vettel concentrated on his race set-up in the other car, as his pit lane start penalty means he has nothing to gain from refining his one-lap pace. Both Force Indias made it into the top ten but the fastest McLaren was no higher than tenth. Tyre warm-up in the cool conditions of Saturday morning proved a particular problem for Jenson Button.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 2nd practice session :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:39.085
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:39.088 +0.003
3. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari -1:40.189 +1.104
4. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:40.390 +1.305
5. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:40.457 +1.372
6. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:40.543 +1.458
7. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:40.631 +1.546
8. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:40.641 +1.556
9. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:40.698 +1.613
10. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:40.800 +1.715
11. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:40.828 +1.743
12. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:41.054 +1.969
13. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:41.110 +2.025
14. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:41.123 +2.038
15. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:41.158 +2.073
16. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:41.332 +2.247
17. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:41.420 +2.335
18. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:43.980 +4.895

Lewis Hamilton pips F1 title rival Nico Rosberg in 2nd practice :
Lewis Hamilton outpaced Formula 1 title rival and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by three thousandths of a second in Friday afternoon practice for the United States Grand Prix. Rosberg initially had the advantage after both had set their first flying laps following their switch to the soft-compound Pirellis, but Hamilton found time on his second lap to jump ahead of his Mercedes team-mate. Although Rosberg did set the fastest sector time of all in the middle sector on his second quick lap, he was unable to improve overall so had to settle for second place. The Mercedes drivers completely dominated the session, outpacing McLaren pairing Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button in the early stages on the slower medium-compound Pirellis by over 1.5s. Their advantage over the rest of field was trimmed to 1.104s once everyone had completed performance runs on the softs, with Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso best-of-the-rest after leaving his switch to the faster rubber later than most. Daniel Ricciardo was fourth fastest for Red Bull, while Felipe Massa jumped up to fifth shortly after the halfway mark in the session despite having suffered a minor lock-up on his quick lap and spun his Williams at the first corner early on. The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was sixth, with the Finn struggling to find a set-up on his car that gave him the necessary feel to extract more pace. One of the stars of the session was Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, who continued his impressive form of the morning to set the seventh-fastest time of the day. Behind him were the two McLarens of Magnussen and Button, who were unable to be as competitive in relative terms on the softs as they had been on the mediums. Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10, even though he did make an error on his quick lap, just beating Valtteri Bottas to the position. Romain Grosjean recovered from a dramatic high-speed spin in the fast Turn 5/6 to set 12th fastest time, almost two seconds off the pace, ahead of Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Perez. Like Lotus team-mate Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado also struggled with the tricky-to-drive Lotus, spinning on what should have been his quickest lap and ending up 15th ahead of the two Saubers of Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez. Sebastian Vettel was slowest of the depleted, 18-car field, almost five seconds off the pace. The German is focusing entirely on preparations for the race given he will start from the pits irrespective of where he qualifies, but made a late start to the session because of a gearbox change.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Qualification Format modified for smaller grid in US :
The grid contains no twenty-two this weekend, but only eighteen cars.Caterham and Marussia are placed under guardianship ( placed under legal restraint ? correct ? ) . And shine in the US by there absence. This has had the effect that a modification of the qualifying format was needed . Normally survive sixteen participants the first part of qualifying, but in a field with eighteen cars would mean only two dropouts. Add the fact that Sebastian Vettel is not going to do qualifying due to an engine change and the modification of the format is logical. Under the new system fall after Q1 and Q2 the slowest four riders, after which ten riders in Q3 fight for pole position.This is the result of consultation between the stewards in Austin .

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi