Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Here are the times of the 1st practice session :

1. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 01:43.285
2. Jenson Button : McLaren : 01:43.618
3. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull : 01:44.050
4. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 01:44.366
5. Mark Webber : Red Bull : 01:44.542
6. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes : 01:44.694
7. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 01:45.115
8. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes : 01:45.194
9. Valtteri Bottas : Williams : 01:45.347
10. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 01:45.422
11. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 01:45.567
12. Nico Hülkenberg : Force India : 01:45.587
13. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 01:45.722
14. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 01:45.743
15. Jules Bianchi : Force India : 01:45.789
16. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 01:45.811
17. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 01:46.649
18. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 01:46.708
19. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 01:47.418
20. Timo Glock : Marussia : 01:47.891
21. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT : 01:48.354
22. Max Chilton : Marussia : 01:48.887
23. Qing Hua : Ma HRT : 01:50.487
24. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham : no time set

Comment of this session :
Lewis Hamilton headed Jenson Button as McLaren dominated the first free practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Friday morning. Hamilton set his table-topping 1m43.285s lap with 25 of the 90 minutes remaining, and beat his countryman and team-mate by 0.333s, with title protagonists Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso third and fourth. More than 35 minutes had elapsed when most of the drivers took to the track, surface temperatures having exceeded 45 degrees Celsius by that point.
Jean-Eric Vergne set the initial pace, and brought his marker down from 1m48.9s to 1m46.6s before Valtteri Bottas, Michael Schumacher and Alonso took turns at the top, the latter in 1m45.1s with 50 minutes gone.
Championship leader Vettel was the first driver to break into the 1m44s shortly afterwards, but his spell at the top lasted less than a minute as Hamilton took a lead he would not relinquish. Button improved his time before the end of the session as Hamilton experimented with a number of different fuel settings during the final half-hour. Vettel ended up third, despite the double world champion running wide at Turn 16 after getting his Red Bull crossed up on the kerb at the corner's entry.
Ferrari driver Alonso, who had dropped to sixth, set his best time in the final minute of the session to climb back up to fourth, ahead of Mark Webber in the second Red Bull and Michael Schumacher's Mercedes.
Pastor Maldonado and Nico Rosberg completed the top eight while Bottas was the best of the test drivers in action in his Williams. He was ninth overall, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus.
Sauber driver Sergio Perez had a scary moment at the pit entrance with 12 minutes to go. Attempting to simulate a full-speed, race entry, the Mexican ran wide as he turned right and was forced to drive over the run-off area and back onto the race track to avoid contact with the barrier.
Heikki Kovalainen was the only one of the Caterham drivers to set a time as Giedo van der Garde spent the session in the garage as his team tried to rectify an engine installation issue.
Marussia's Max Chilton did get out though, to undertake a series of aero tests in his maiden F1 practice outing.
His team-mate Timo Glock, 20th, suffered a series of lock-ups and wide moments. He lost a potentially strong laptime with 25 minutes left when he was impeded by Schumacher's Mercedes under braking for the left-hander at the end of the main straight. He communicated his annoyance with a waved hand, but immediately saw Schumacher pull off the track and gesturing a wave of his own in the Marussia's direction by way of apology.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina circuit – 4° edition
In my opinion the worst circuit of the season. I can understand that in Singapore is difficult to create a good track because it is a street circuit but in the middle of the desert you have unlimited possibility of choice. You can copy famous curves of other tracks like Spa or Suzuka; instead nothing. Again long straights and slow curves often even at 90 degrees. There are two extremely long straights divided by a tight chicane with heavy braking zones, and then in the last sector, a sequence of 90 degree bends(left- and right-hand), where you need a good traction and stability under braking. The race starts in the late afternoon and arrives under floodlights after the sunsets so the track temperature falls during the GP. Yas Marina is one of very few circuit on the F1 calendar that runs in an anti-clockwise direction. Overtaking is very difficult and for this reason, two years ago Alonso has lost in an incredible way the world championship after a race managed badly from Ferrari's box. Like in Bahrain, there is a fine covering of dust on the track surface.
The circuits in the desert are nothing new. Even before the Second World War there was a very fast track near Tripoli(Lybia), the Mellaha circuit. In 1935, for the Tripoli Gran Prix, famous for its prize pool, there were no weight limits for cars(the free Formula) and Scuderia Alfa Romeo(team manager Enzo Ferrari) participated in the race with 3 powerful cars: “Bimotore” that means powered by two engines, (3165 ccm each one = 6330 ccm, sixteen-cylinder). This car had a huge power but was also very heavy (more than 1000 kg of weight without fuel); another big issue was the instability of the car and the high fuel consumption. On the long straights Nuvolari at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo was very fast and able to pass the other pilots but the huge tyre wear, forced him to make 13(thirteen)pit stops to change tires. At the end won Rudy Caracciola (Mercedes w25), second Achille Varzi(Auto Union type B). The Alfa Romeo Bimotore will participate only to another GP, at AVUS in the same year. We return to nowadays. Tyres: Pirelli have decided to bring for this GP: tyres medium “white” (prime) and tyres soft “yellow” (option) A combination widely used this year. As in India we'll have two distinct DRS zones.
Podium 2009: Vettel – Webber – Button. Fastest lap on race: Vettel – pole position : Hamilton 1'40''948
Podium 2010: Vettel – Hamilton – Button. Fastest lap on race: Hamilton – pole position : Vettel 1'39''394
Podium 2011: Hamilton – Alonso – Button. fastest lap on race: Webber – pole position : Vettel 1'38''481
in the previous three editions Button always on the podium and always third

last year in abu dhabi gp
pole
vettel:1:38:481
podium
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 55 1:37:11.886
Fernando Alonso Ferrari 55 +8.4 secs 5
Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 55 +25.8 secs

The list for next years Drivers and Teams 2013 so far :

Red Bull:
- Sebastian vettel
- Mark Webber

Ferrari:
- Fernando Alonso
- Felipe Massa

McLaren:
- Jenson Button
- Sergio Perez

Lotus:
- Kimi Raikkonen
- ...

Mercedes:
- Lewis Hamilton
- Nico Rosberg

Force India:
- ...
- ...

Sauber:
- Nico Hulkenberg
- ...

Toro Rosso:
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Jean-Eric Vergne

Williams:
- ...
- ...

Caterham:
- ...
- ...

HRT:
- Pedro de la Rosa
- ...

Marussia:
- Timo Glock
- ...

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

latest f1 news
Red Bull announced the confirmation of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne as pilots for the World F1 CHAMPIONSHIP 2013. "Both - said the team principal Franz Tost - they did a good job this season.

latest f1 news
Rome, October 31 - (Adnkronos) - Nico Hulkenberg will be 'behind the wheel of the Sauber F1 World 2013. The 25 year-old German, who stars in a good season this year with Force India, and 'was chosen by the Swiss team to replace the Mexican Sergio Perez, hired by McLaren for next year. The name of Hulkenberg had also been linked with Ferrari before the official confirmation of Felipe Massa. "I look forward to working with Sauber. E 'a team well-placed and very competitive. Moreover, this is a team that young drivers have more' repeatedly expressed performance. I'd pick this witness. Sauber is through a phase of very positive development and I am confident that together we can achieve a lot, "the words of Hulkenberg. The German then assures that "I will remain 'completely focused on my work with the Force India" to the end of this season. To his current team is also a thank you "for giving me the chance 'to return to F1 as a rider." Hulkenberg made his debut in the 'circus' in 2010 with Williams after winning the world title the year before in GP2. "We are seeing Nico a bit 'of time and its performances were very convincing," said Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber boss. The Swiss team has not yet announced the second driver for 2013.

Sébastien Buemi 31st October 1988
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Happy Birthday to your 24th anniversary

Giuseppe Farina
(F1-World Champion 1950 - The 1st F1 Champion in History)
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Born : 30th October 1906 - Died : 30th June 1966

f1 news
Raikkonen with Lotus-even in 2013
Kimi Raikkonen will drive the Lotus next season too. With a promotional video released today, the team has confirmed the 33-year old Finnish driver for the 2013 season

Bernie Ecclestone 28th October 1930
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Happy Birthday to your 82nd anniversary

brudgon wrote:1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
3 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault
.....................................................................................................

Fastest Lap : Jenson Button : 1:28.203
Pitstop Ricciardo : 1
D.S.L : 14

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

2012 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
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Fri 02 November 2012
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30
Sat 03 November 2012
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00
Sun 04 November 2012
Race 14:00

f1 constructors standing
1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 407
2 Ferrari 316
3 McLaren-Mercedes 306
4 Lotus-Renault 263
5 Mercedes 136
6 Sauber-Ferrari 116
7 Force India-Mercedes 93
8 Williams-Renault 59
9 STR-Ferrari 21
10 Marussia-Cosworth 0
11 Caterham-Renault 0
12 HRT-Cosworth 0

f1 world standings
1 Sebastian Vettel German Red Bull Racing-Renault 240
2 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 227
3 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Lotus-Renault 173
4 Mark Webber Australian Red Bull Racing-Renault 167
5 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 165
6 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 141
7 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes 93
8 Romain Grosjean French Lotus-Renault 90
9 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 89
10 Sergio Perez Mexican Sauber-Ferrari 66
11 Kamui Kobayashi Japanese Sauber-Ferrari 50
12 Nico Hulkenberg German Force India-Mercedes 49
13 Paul di Resta British Force India-Mercedes 44
14 Michael Schumacher German Mercedes 43
15 Pastor Maldonado Venezuelan Williams-Renault 33
16 Bruno Senna Brazilian Williams-Renault 26
17 Jean-Eric Vergne French STR-Ferrari 12
18 Daniel Ricciardo Australian STR-Ferrari 9
19 Timo Glock German Marussia-Cosworth 0
20 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Caterham-Renault 0
21 Vitaly Petrov Russian Caterham-Renault 0
22 Jerome D'Ambrosio Belgian Lotus-Renault 0
23 Charles Pic French Marussia-Cosworth 0
24 Narain Karthikeyan Indian HRT-Cosworth 0
25 Pedro de la Rosa Spanish HRT-Cosworth 0

2012 FORMULA 1 AIRTEL INDIAN GRAND PRIX
race results
1 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 60 1:31:10.744 1 25
2 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 60 +9.4 secs 5 18
3 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 60 +13.2 secs 2 15
4 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 60 +13.9 secs 3 12
5 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 60 +26.2 secs 4 10
6 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 60 +44.6 secs 6 8
7 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 60 +45.2 secs 7 6
8 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 60 +54.9 secs 12 4
9 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 60 +56.1 secs 11 2
10 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 60 +74.9 secs 13 1
11 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 60 +81.6 secs 10
12 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 60 +82.8 secs 16
13 16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 60 +86.0 secs 15
14 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 60 +86.4 secs 17
15 17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 18
16 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 59 +1 Lap 9
17 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 59 +1 Lap 19
18 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 59 +1 Lap 20
19 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 59 +1 Lap 24
20 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 58 +2 Laps 21
21 23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 58 +2 Laps 23
22 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 55 +5 Laps 14
Ret 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 42 Brakes 22
Ret 15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 20 +40 Laps 8