Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Result of the race :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP 1h45
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP + 2.850
3. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari + 3.381
4. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso + 22.359
5. Sergio Perez - Force India + 24.413
6. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso + 25.619
7. Jenson Button - McLaren + 28.058
8. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus + 32.273
9. Felipe Nasr - Sauber + 40.257
10. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing + 53.371
11. Fernando Alonso - McLaren + 54.816
12. Alexander Rossi - Manor F1 Team + 1m15.277
Did Not Finish :
13. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing
14. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India
15. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber
16. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari
17. Felipe Massa - Williams
18. Romain Grosjean - Lotus
19. Valtteri Bottas - Williams
20. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team

Fastest lap : Nico Rosberg - 1:40.666
Pitstop S.Perez : 2
Bat 2 Teams : S.Perez > D.Kvyat
Grid Pos. S.Vettel : 3rd place

Lewis Hamilton clinches third F1 drivers’ title after winning the US GP at Austin - Texas :
Lewis Hamilton won his third Formula 1 world championship after claiming victory in a wild United States Grand Prix. Hamilton, who finished 2.8s clear of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg come the conclusion to an astonishing 56 laps, also becomes the first Briton to win back-to-back titles. From second on the grid and on the run up the hill into Turn 1, Hamilton had the inside line, and not for the first time this year he forced Rosberg wide and off track after they had bumped wheels, relegating the German to fifth. When Sauber's Felipe Nasr lost most of his front wing at Turn 1 on lap two after clipping the rear-left tyre of team-mate Marcus Ericsson - on the occasion of the team's 400th grand prix - debris at that corner led to the virtual safety car being called.
On the restart, Hamilton backed up those behind him to such a degree that once the racing resumed Rosberg soon passed Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Over the next few laps, on wearing intermediate tyres and on a circuit not quite ready for a switch to slicks, a titanic battle ensued between the leading quartet. Ricciardo took the lead on lap 15 from Hamilton, with Rosberg through for second shortly after. That forced Hamilton into the pits at the end of lap 18, taking on the softs, with the Briton setting the tone as the rest of the field followed him in either on that lap or the following one. From fourth and second respectively, Hamilton and Rosberg made their way up to third and first with moves on Kvyat and Ricciardo, with the latter duo not as strong on slick rubber. When Ericsson pulled his car out of the race at Turn 11 on lap 28, its positioning on the track brought the safety car out. At that stage it wiped out a 10.6s lead for Rosberg over Hamilton, who had passed Ricciardo for second just before Ericsson's exit. All bar the leading four - Rosberg, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Kvyat - pitted for another change of tyres, with fifth-placed Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari taking on a new set of mediums in an attempt to get to the end without another stop. Once the safety car departed after five laps, the German soon cleared Kvyat and Ricciardo to move up to third before another incident on lap 37.
This time it was Force India's Nico Hulkenberg retiring after running into the side of Ricciardo in a bid to claim fifth, leading to a second virtual safety car, under which Rosberg pitted, dropping to fourth, with Hamilton staying out. Come lap 42, with Rosberg within six seconds of Hamilton, the safety car was deployed again when Kvyat lost his car on the approach to the final turn, sending him into a barrier. That allowed Hamilton to make his second stop and come out behind Rosberg, whose hopes of extending the title race into Mexico next Sunday ended when he got out of shape at Turn 15 on the power and ran off track at Turn 16-17. From there it was a smooth run to the finish for Hamilton, with Rosberg just holding off Vettel for second, followed by Toro Rosso's Max Vertsappen in fourth after a long final stint on his tyres. Just 12 drivers saw the flag, with eight retiring through mechanical failure or after on-track incidents.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the qualifying :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP 1:56.824
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP 1:56.929 +0.105
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing 1:57.969 +1.145
4. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing 1:58.434 +1.610
5. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari 1:58.596 +1.772
6. Sergio Perez - Force India 1:59.210 +2.386
7. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India 1:59.333 +2.509
8. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari 1:59.703 +2.879
9. Felipe Massa - Williams 1:59.999 +3.175
10. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso 2:00.199 +3.375
Q2
11. Fernando Alonso - McLaren 2:00.265 +3.441
12. Valtteri Bottas - Williams 2:00.334 +3.510
13. Romain Grosjean - Lotus 2:00.595 +3.771
14. Jenson Button - McLaren 2:01.193 +4.369
15. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus 2:01.604 +4.780
Q1
16. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber 2:02.212 +5.388
17. Felipe Nasr - Sauber 2:03.194 +6.370
18. Alexander Rossi - Manor F1 Team 2:04.176 +7.352
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team 2:04.526 +7.702
20. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso 2:07.304 +10.480

Qualifying time : 1:56.824
Pole : Nico Rosberg
Team Bat. : F.Massa > V.Bottas
Grid Pos. D.Ricciardo : 3rd place

Nico Rosberg claimed pole position for the United States Grand Prix, after worsening rain caused the cancellation of the final segment of a postponed Formula 1 qualifying session. Qualifying for the Austin race was delayed until Sunday morning after heavy rain washed out Saturday afternoon's planned track action, but worsening conditions through Sunday morning meant the session had to be suspended after Q2. Rosberg set the fastest time in that segment, a tenth clear of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who Rosberg must beat in the race if he is to prevent Hamilton clinching a third world championship at this event. Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull was fastest of all in Q1, but he ended up third on the grid, over a second slower than the two Mercedes.
His team-mate Daniil Kvyat was fourth fastest, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who will receive a 10-place grid penalty for taking a fresh engine this weekend. Sergio Perez beat Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg to the sixth fastest time by just over a tenth, while Kimi Raikkonen (who will also take a grid penalty), Felipe Massa and Max Verstappen rounded out the top 10. Fernando Alonso's predictions of a possible top-10 position in qualifying almost came true, as the McLaren driver missed out by less than a tenth of a second to Verstappen in Q2. Several drivers, including reigning world champion Hamilton and 2007 title winner Raikkonen, survived lurid moments at Turn 10 as rain worsened in this segment of qualifying, and Alonso's team-mate Jenson Button suggested over team radio that conditions were bordering on unsafe. Splashing to 11th place on the grid for Alonso represented McLaren's best qualifying result of the season so far, while the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas was 0.069s slower than Alonso in 12th, Bottas complaining of broken suspension on his FW37. The second McLaren of Button split the two Lotuses of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado in completing the top 15. Carlos Sainz Jr joined the Saubers and Manor-Marussias in failing to escape Q1, after crashing heavily in the early stages of that session. Sainz lost the rear of his Toro Rosso over the kerb at Turn 3, before crashing hard into the barriers on the outside of Turn 4 and causing the session to be stopped while marshals recovered his broken STR10. The Spaniard will need permission to start the race from the back of the grid after failing to set a time fast enough to make the 107 per cent cut-off. After the session resumed, Vettel's Ferrari glanced the barriers following a spin at Turn 10, and the four-time world champion tumbled down the timesheet as others gradually improved their times. The Saubers tried in vain to dislodge Vettel's Ferrari from 15th spot as Q1 came to a close. Marcus Ericsson was over a second adrift in the end, while team-mate Nasr was a further 0.9s shy, complaining of "zero rear grip" from his C34.


Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Update :

" Formula 1
✔ ‎@F1
LATEST: If there is no clear sign of a break in the weather by 1600 (local), qualifying will be postponed until 0900 on Sunday " = 15.00u CET

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

23.05u CET : Just came in .... there will be another attempt to do the qualifying on sunday 09.00u local time ( 15.00u CET !!! "

Official news : after 6 rain delays (for a total of 3 hours), the qualifying has been postponed to tomorrow at h. 15 CET

Result of the 3rd practice session :

The third free practice for the Grand Prix of America started at the normal 17.00 hours CET . However, the intense rain is still not really diminished in Austin, so the organization has required the riders to ride on the rain tires.

It is currently still uncertain what will happen with the qualification. This session will be held later today, but it is possible that the third free practice session will determine the starting grid. If it rains too hard to qualify, then the third training is used as a qualifier.


1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP 1:59.517
2. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari 2:00.380 +0.863
3. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India 2:00.496 +0.979
4. Valtteri Bottas - Williams 2:00.523 +1.006
5. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso 2:00.687 +1.170
6. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing 2:00.694 +1.177
7. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari 2:00.785 +1.268
8. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing 2:01.008 +1.491
9. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP 2:01.474 +1.957
10. Felipe Massa - Williams 2:02.199 +2.682
11. Sergio Perez - Force India 2:02.660 +3.143
12. Romain Grosjean - Lotus 2:02.825 +3.308
13. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus 2:02.921 +3.404
14. Fernando Alonso - McLaren 2:03.375 +3.858
15. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber 2:04.399 +4.882
16. Jenson Button - McLaren 2:05.283 +5.766
17. Will Stevens Manor - F1 Team 2:05.378 +5.861
18. Alexander Rossi - Manor F1 Team 2:05.607 +6.090
19. Felipe Nasr - Sauber 2:06.792 +7.275
20. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso 2:09.994 +10.477

Lewis Hamilton fastest in very wet final practice session :
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton set the pace in a rain-hit final practice for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Heavy rain lashed Austin on Saturday casting doubt as to whether the session at the Circuit of the Americas would run on schedule.
But after sending the safety car out to assess conditions, officials deemed the track clear for use and practice began on time.
With second practice on Friday cancelled because of bad weather, there was plenty of running in the opening half off the session before the rain intensified. With rivers running across the track and puddles forming in places, the teams were informed by race control that intermediates were could not be used. Nico Rosberg was among the first drivers to get caught out by the conditions, spinning at Turn 3 and tapping the barrier, which broke his front wing. His Mercedes team-mate Hamilton also had a moment, catching the rear-end as it stepped out at Turn 13 before continuing. However, the reigning world champion managed to get a flying lap in shortly before conditions started to worsen, moving himself to the top of the order. Sebastian Vettel had a messy session, spinning first at Turn 19 and then Turn 9 and then complaining about aquaplaning as conditions worsened in the final half of the session. The Ferrari driver did manage to set the second fastest time of the session though, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz Jr. There were no improvements in the final 20 minutes, but several drivers headed out on track to perform practice starts, particularly as there's a chance the start of Sunday's race could be wet. Daniil Kvyat was sixth with Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa completing the top 10. Should qualifying not be able to take place at any point, the regulations suggest the grid will take the order in which they were classified in final practice. Rain is expected to continue throughout Saturday, but even if qualifying is unable to be completed as scheduled, it could run on Sunday ahead of the race, as was the case for the Australian Grand Prix in 2013.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Update

The 3rd practice session has started at 17.00u CET , but the condition is

Here is a photo from yesterday


[Verstecktes Bild - Registrierung notwendig]

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Update : just read some " live " info on different sites ... it's raining more heavy than yesterday , the condition is worse ...it will be more likely/possible that the 3rd practice session will not be drivin and also the qualifying will not be done today ...this will mean that there will be no test session at all anymore and that the qualifying will be done on sunday .... as soon as we will know more we will bring it out !!!!!!


" Reported by Adam Cooper :
However as things stand the rain is so heavy that it looks unlikely we will get a break in the weather all day "



Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Update

2nd practice session canceld because of the horribel weather...no possibility for Helicopter to get in the air because of this weather !!!!

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

2nd practice session ...heavy rain , thunder , heavy wind

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of a 1st wet practice session :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP 1:53.989
2. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing 1:55.224 +1.235
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing 1:55.592 +1.603
4. Carlos Sainz jr -Toro Rosso 1:55.667 +1.678
5. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP 1:55.693 +1.704
6. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari 1:55.710 +1.721
7. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso 1:55.969 +1.980
8. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari 1:56.326 +2.337
9. Fernando Alonso - McLaren 1:56.839 +2.850
10. Valtteri Bottas - Williams 1:56.866 +2.877
11. Felipe Massa - Williams 1:57.081 +3.092
12. Sergio Perez - Force India 1:57.139 +3.150
13. Jenson Button - McLaren 1:57.495 +3.506
14. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India 1:57.518 +3.529
15. Romain Grosjean - Lotus 1:58.319 +4.330
16. Raffaele Marciello - Sauber 1:59.431 +5.442
17. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber 1:59.743 +5.754
18. Alexander Rossi - Manor F1 Team 2:01.154 +7.165
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team 2:01.907 +7.918
20. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - no time

2nd practice session at 21.00u CET !!!

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Schedule for this weekends GP :

Friday 23/10 :
1st practice session : 17.00u - 18.30u CET
2nd practice session : 21.00u - 22.30u CET

Saturday 24/10 :
3rd practice session : 17.00u - 18.00u CET
Qualifying : 20.00u - 21.00u CET

Sunday 25/10 :
Race : 20.00u CET

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Circuit of the Americas – Austin(Texas) – 4th edition; it was inaugurated in 2012
23-24-25 October 2015 – 16th round of the season.

It is a challenging track, with ups and downs and various techniques curves. The first corner goes steeply uphill and is very interesting. The next section is the best part of the track. the curves Three to Nine are a long set of corners similar to the Esses at Suzuka or the Maggots Becketts Chapel sector at Silverstone.

For this week end, Pirelli will bring Soft (Yellow-marked) and Medium (White-marked) compounds,
Last year Lewis Hamilton won from second place on the grid with a two-stop strategy:
Start on soft tyre - (lap n.16) medium tyre and again(lap n. 33) medium tyre.
(in previous years, the winning strategy in Austin was only one pit stop but with different tyre compounds)

2012 Podium: Hamilton (Mc Laren) – 2° Vettel and 3° Alonso
Fastest lap: Vettel (Red Bull) – Vettel (Red Bull) 1.35.657 (medium tyre)

2013 Podium: Vettel (Red Bull) – 2° Grosjean and 3° Webber
Fastest lap: Vettel (Red Bull) – Vettel (Red Bull) 1.36.338 (medium tyre)

2014 Podium: Hamilton (Mercedes) – 2° Rosberg and 3° Ricciardo
Fastest lap: Vettel (Red Bull) – Rosberg (Mercedes) 1.36.067 (Soft Tyre)

Weather forecast: high chance of rain during the week end

Breaking news:
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will take 10-place grid penalties for the race because the
team chose to introduce an updated power unit.
The new engine will be the fifth of the season for Vettel and Raikkonen and therefore there will be the penalties for both pilots

LATEST NEWS :

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) got a 30'' penalty for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas (Williams) in the last lap of the race.
Raikkonen dropped in 8th place in the final result of the Russian GP, with Kvyat (Red Bull) 5th, Nasr (Sauber) 6th and Maldonado (Lotus) 7th.

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 15 RACES :

1. Mercedes 531 points 2015 WORLD CHAMPIONS

2. Ferrari 359 points
3. Williams 220 points
4. Red Bull 149 points
5. Force India 92 points
6. Lotus 66 points
7. Toro Rosso 44 points
8. Sauber 34 points
9. McLaren 20 points

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 15 RACES :

1. L. Hamilton GBR Mercedes 302 points
2. S. Vettel GER Ferrari 236 points
3. N. Rosberg GER Mercedes 229 points
4. K. Raikkonen FIN Ferrari 123 points
5. V. Bottas FIN Williams 111 points
6. F. Massa BRA Williams 109 points
7. D. Kvyat RUS Red Bull 76 points
8. D. Ricciardo AUS Red Bull 73 points
9. S. Perez MEX Force India 54 points
10. R. Grosjean FRA Lotus 44 points
11. N. Hulkenberg GER Force India 38 points
12. M. Verstappen NED Toro Rosso 32 points
13. F. Nasr BRA Sauber 25 points
14. P. Maldonado VEN Lotus 22 points
15. C. Sainz jr. ESP Toro Rosso & F. Alonso ESP McLaren 12 points
17. M. Ericsson SWE Sauber 9 points
18. J. Button GBR McLaren 8 points