Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

The 1st practice session has just ended ,here is the result of it :

Vettel pips Massa in first practice session :
Sebastian Vettel began his championship defence by leading the first practice session of 2013 – but Ferrari weren’t far behind. After the first 90 minutes of practice for the Australian Grand Prix Felipe Massa was just 0.078s slower than the Red Bull driver, with team mate Fernando Alonso third.
Lewis Hamilton was fourth-fastest on his first appearance for Mercedes.
The first half-hour of the session saw little running as the drivers preferred to keep an eye on track conditions and wait for their rivals to make a move. Toro Rosso blinked first, sending Daniel Ricciardo out for a run. His team mate soon joined him followed by the Caterhams and Marussias.
Kimi Raikkonen was among the first of the front-runners to do a stint, lowering the best to a 1’27.877.
The Mercedes pair got close to the time but Fernando Alonso was the first to beat it, improving on the Lotus’s mark by two tenths of a second. That left Vettel as the only driver yet to set a time. With half an hour to go he duly took the top spot off the Ferrari, despite running wide at turn six.
Felipe Massa briefly reclaimed the top time but Vettel took it back with his next effort. Now it was Massa’s turn to make an error at turn four, In the latter stages of the session several drivers were clearly struggling for grip. Mark Webber reported his tyres were gone towards the end of the session and Ricciardo was having trouble with tyre vibrations. Giedo van der Garde ran wide at turn one and more than one driver got onto the dirt at the exit of turn five. Jules Bianchi out-braked himself at turn three.
With two minutes to go Paul di Resta spun off at turn six but managed to extract his Force India from the gravel trap and get back on the track.
1: Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull : 1’27.211 laps 16
2: Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1’27.289 +0.078 laps 17
3: Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1’27.547 + 0.336 laps 16
4: Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes : 1’27.552 + 0.341 laps 18
5 :Mark Webber : Red Bull :1’27.668 + 0.457 laps 18
6 :Kimi Raikkonen : Lotus : 1’27.877 + 0.666 laps 17
7: Nico Rosberg : Mercedes : 1’28.013 + 0.802 laps 17
8: Adrian Sutil :Force India : 1’28.426 + 1.215 laps 19
9: Jenson Button : McLaren : 1’28.440 + 1.229 laps 19
10: Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1’28.520 + 1.309 laps 15
11: Sergio Perez : McLaren : 1’28.597 + 1.386 laps 19
12: Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber : 1’28.786 + 1.575 laps 19
13: Paul di Resta : Force India : 1’28.910 + 1.699 laps 18
14: Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1’29.443 + 2.232 laps 20
15: Valtteri Bottas : Williams : 1’29.928 + 2.717 laps 19
16: Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber : 1’30.203 + 2.992 laps 17
17:Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1’30.729 + 3.518 laps 17
18: Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso :1’30.969 + 3.758 laps 19
19: Jules Bianchi : Marussia : 1’31.263 + 4.052 laps 24
20: Max Chilton : Marussia : 1’32.176 + 4.965 laps 23
21: Charles Pic : Caterham : 1’32.274 + 5.063 laps 21
22: Giedo van der Garde : Caterham :1’32.388 + 5.177 laps 18

2nd practice session starts at 06.30u !

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

17 min. to go and the top 5 is at the moment
1: Vettel , 2 : Massa ,3: Alonso ,4: Hamilton , 5 : Webber

37 minutes to go in this session ....10 drivers have set a time so far !

The weather is sunny in Australia

as usual...they do a installation run ....and stay in the box afterwards ....we are allready 25 min. away in this session and nothing to see on the track so far

Little info :
For those who are interrested ...tonight at 02.30u CET will be the 1st practice session ....you can watch it " live " at

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The schedule for tonight is :
01.00u - Australian Grand Prix F1 Drivers Press Conference Repeat
01.45u - Gear Up For Australia
02.30u - 04.00u :1st practice session
06.30u - 08.00u : 2nd practice session
10.30u - SkySports F1 : The F1 show

and for those who are not able to watch it " live " :
14.30u - 1st practice session replay
16.50u - 2nd practice replay
21.00u - SkySports F1 : The F1 show replay
22.00u - 1st practice session replay
00.20u - 2nd practice session replay

I will post this night the results as soon as they are released ...sooooooo it's going to be a fantastic night of Formula 1 for me ( ofcourse i have taken a vacation day on friday to watch the opening season )

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

the Melbourne Grand Prix takes place on a street circuit but a bit unusual, because the average speed in qualifying is more than 220 km, and there are some run-off area large enough. Traction and braking are important here. Two t DRS zones, during practice qualifying and race. Tyre: Supersoft and Medium.
Here only a podium for Ferrari(3° place)in the last five years

Winner (last 5 editions)
2008 L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes
2009 J Button – Brawn Mercedes
2010 J Button – McLaren Mercedes
2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
2012 J Button–; McLaren Mercedes

Pole position: (last 5 editions)
2008 L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes
2009 J Button – Brawn Mercedes
2010 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault pole time 1m 23.919 – first free practice 1m 26.927 (gap: 3.008)
2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault pole time 1m 23.529 – first free practice 1m 26.831 (gap: 3.302)
2012 L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes pole time 1m 24.922 first free practice 1m 27.560 (gap: 2.638)
the gap is the improvement between the first free practice session on Friday morning and pole position in the same year. So after the practice session on Friday morning it will be possible to have a first idea on the pole time.
much more interesting would be the comparison between the third free practice and the pole position
2010 (gap 0.800) 2011 (gap: 0.978) 2012(gap: 0,759)
Of course, the comparison is only possible in dry conditions.

good championship to pilots and teams
and good luck to everyone for the game here.
Best regards.

Last years pole position Lewis Hamilton 1:24.922 min.

last year melbourne results
1 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes --
2 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault +2.1 secs
3 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +4.0 secs
4 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault +4.5 secs
5 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +21.5 secs
6 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +36.7 secs
7 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault +38.0 secs
8 15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari +39.4 secs
9 16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari +39.5 secs
10 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes +39.7 secs
11 17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari +39.8 secs
12 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +57.6 secs
13 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault Accident
14 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth +1 Lap
15 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth +5 Laps
16 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault +6 Laps
Ret 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari +12 Laps
Ret 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault +20 Laps
Ret 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault +24 Laps
Ret 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes +48 Laps
Ret 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault Accident
Ret 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +58 Laps

Short Info :

The Teams for this season together with there drivers starting number

Inifniti Red Bull
1. Sebastian Vettel (DEU)
2. Mark Webber (AUS)

Scuderia Ferrari
3. Fernando Alonso (ESP)
4. Felipe Massa (BRA)

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
5. Jenson Button (GBR)
6. Sergio Perez (MEX)

Lotus F1 Team
7. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)
8. Romain Grosjean (FRA)

Mercedes Petronas AMG F1 Team
9. Nico Rosberg (DEU)
10. Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

Sauber F1 Team
11. Nico Hulkenberg (DEU)
12. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX)

Sahara Force India F1 Team
14. Paul di Resta (GBR)
15. Adrian Sutil (DEU)

Williams F1 Team
16. Pastor Maldonado (VEN)
17. Valtteri Bottas (FIN)

Scuderia Toro Rosso
18. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA)
19. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)

Caterham F1 Team
20. Charles Pic (FRA)
21. Giedo van der Garde (NDL)

Marussia F1 Team
22. Jules Bianchi (FRA)
23. Max Chilton (GBR)

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

brudgon wrote:hey shaky i'm looking forward yours new 2013 f1 games

The F1 games are having there final touch...i'm putting the last efforts in it so that they can be published on wednesday or thursday !!!
It's not that easy to try to make everyone happy / satisfied...but i'm trying to make the best of it for this season
The points system have given me some headache lately ,specialy today when it's the last time for a final touch & check-up

Kind Regards
Shaky

some remarks after the preseason tests and before the first race on 17 March
F1 cars are faster than last year; maybe it was recovered the gap created at the end of the 2011 season. For example: pole position at Bercellona GP 2012: Hamilton 1m21.707(but canceled due to a mistake of his team). Preseason tests 2013: best lap time Rosberg 1m20.130. The improvement was more than 1.5 seconds

Red Bull: Vettel and Webber have hidden the real potential of RB9 - E 'unthinkable that the two Red Bull drivers(Vettel 1.22.5 and Webber 1.22.6) are only 0.6 seconds faster than Caterham (Charles Pic - 1.23.1) and Marussia (Jules Bianchi - 1.23.1). But in last week in Barcelona, there were some difficulties. small details or something more?

Mc Laren: more or less the same thing even if Button closed the tests in fifth position. Perhaps with the new pull rod suspension, engineers and mechanics are faced with different problems, but the first GP is at Melbourne(Albert Park); usually a favorable track for Mc Laren. (3 wins in the last five years), and Button(first in 2009-2010 and 2012)

Ferrari: for sure better than 2012. The new F138 seems fast on a single lap and consistent in the long run, but Ferrari was behind in the final races of 2012. I hope they have recovered at least a large part of the gap; it would be very important to start from a good position on the grid.

Mercedes: Rosberg and Hamilton have been fast in Barcelona. Very well over a single lap, but also a good long-run pace. Maybe the new W04 will be close to the front row for qualifying in Melbourne. However will be important to understand if they have solved the big problem of the last year: tire wear and their right use, during the race.

During the preseason tests, a big issue for all the teams has been the high degradation with Pirelli’s new tyres. At Melbourne, probably we will see a lot of pit stop, also because it will brought the supersoft compound (red stripe) together with the medium (white stripe). Perhaps a bit risky choice. Last year had been brought soft tyres(yellow) and medium (white). One last note: two DRS zones for every circuit except for Monaco and Suzuka in 2013. More drs during the race and less drs during practice and qualifying.

Short Info :

Race 1 : Albert Park Melbourne - Australia
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Track info characteristic :
Course : Albert Park Melbourne
output : medium
Route length : 5.303 km
full throttle : 63 percent
Race distance : 58 laps = 307.574 km
Tire wear : medium
Lap record: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:24,125 minutes
brake wear : high
fuel consumption : medium

Friday 15/03 :
1st Free Practice: 02:30 - 04:00 u
2nd Free Practice : 06:30 - 08:00 u
Saturday 16/03 :
3rd Free Practice :04:00 - 05:00 u
Qualifying: 07:00 u
Sunday 17/03 :
Race:07:00 u

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Short News :

Renault 'frustrated' by lack of recognition for F1 success :
Renault has admitted it is "frustrated" its world-beating efforts in formula one are going largely unnoticed. For the past three seasons, despite having pulled out of F1 as a constructor, the French engine supplier has been a crucial part of Red Bull's title successes. But operating chief Carlos Tavares admitted: "We are frustrated by the lack of recognition we get for beating the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes. It is true that I think we deserve better," he is quoted by autocar.co.uk. "It is clear that we must create a bigger buzz around what we do."
In 2013, Red Bull's title sponsor is Infiniti, the luxury arm of the Renault-linked carmaker Nissan. Renault also supplies engines to Lotus, Williams and Caterham.

Nico Hulkenberg plays down ongoing Ferrari rumours :
Nico Hulkenberg has played down continuing suggestions he has merely 'parked' at Sauber for a year, before possibly switching to Ferrari in 2014. Told that the rumours are still abounding in the paddock, the German driver said: "It doesn't concern me at all. I don't talk about the contents of my contracts and, anyway, I haven't even done a single race for Sauber yet," said the 25-year-old, who has moved from Force India to Ferrari-aligned Sauber for 2013. He continued: "Of course I hear the speculation, and it's even a form of recognition, but the whole thing leaves me completely untouched," Hulkenberg is quoted by the SID news agency. "I am concentrating completely on the coming season and, first of all, Melbourne." Told, however, that a driver of his rising stature and potential must be targeting a future seat at Ferrari, he answered: "But it doesn't mean I will go."

Hill - 'A bit ridiculous' to question Vettel greatness :
It is "ridiculous" that so many in formula one question the true ability of reigning triple world champion Sebastian Vettel. That is the view of Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion turned television pundit for British broadcaster Sky. "I find it a bit ridiculous," 52-year-old Hill, when asked about the widespread view that Vettel is not yet an all-time great, is quoted by Speed Week. "I mean, in his first 100 grands prix, he won 26 -- more than one in four. What else does he need to do? "Maybe some of it is because of his age. But if we already know what records he has broken, then one must inevitably ask the question -- what will his record be in ten years? Of course Vettel has an optimal environment with Red Bull, and with Adrian Newey probably the best designer in the business. "But the titles in 2010 and 2012 were definitely not a walk in the park. I can imagine him having the momentum for the world championship for another three or four years. I see no reason why Sebastian is not the favourite for the title in 2013 and beyond," added Hill.

Frank Williams' wife loses battle against cancer :
Sir Frank Williams' wife 'Ginny' died late on Thursday, the British formula one team announced on Friday.
Lady Virginia Williams, who had been battling cancer for the past two years, was 66.

FIA confirms 2013 calendar cut to 19 races :
With one week to go to the start of the new Formula One season the FIA has finally confirmed this year’s schedule. The 2013 F1 calendar will have 19 rounds instead of the 20 previously announced in September.
Plans for an additional race in Europe on July 21st have been scrapped after a host could not be found.
The sport’s governing body added that discussions over the new Concorde Agreement are still ongoing and will be “concluded in the near future”. A settlement on the commercial agreement which governs F1 was originally due to be reached last October.
Here is the final calendar for 2013:
1: Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park : March 15 – 17
2: Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang International Circuit : March 22 – 24
3: Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit : April 12 – 14
4: Bahrain Grand Prix : Bahrain International Circuit : April 19 – 21
5: Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Catalunya : May 10 – 12
6: Monaco Grand Prix - Monte-Carlo : May 23 – 26
7: Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve : June 7 – 9
8: British Grand Prix - Silverstone : June 28 – 30
9: German Grand Prix - Nurburgring : July 5 – 7
10: Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring : July 26 – 28
11: Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps : August 23 – 25
12: Italian Grand Prix - Monza : September 6 – 8
13: Singapore Grand Prix - Singapore : September 20 – 22
14: Korean Grand Prix - Korean International Circuit : October 4 – 6
15: Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka : October 11 – 13
16: Indian Grand Prix - Buddh International Circuit : October 25 – 27
17: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina : November 1 – 3
18: United States Grand Prix - Circuit of the Americas : November 15 – 17
19: Brazilian Grand Prix - Interlagos : November 22 – 24

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Pastor Maldonado 9th March 1985
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Happy Birthday to your 28th anniversary

hey shaky i'm looking forward yours new 2013 f1 games