2010 formula 1 Grand Prix season

[TBWG]

Hi F1 Fans

Talk about making life difficult for themselves  ~~~ This article by Joe Saward says it all!


Vettel wins in Brazil – the air is thin in Austria

November 7, 2010 by joesaward

Red Bull made a very clear statement in Brazil. It is either run by someone who is stark raving bonkers, or is only willing to apply team orders at the last minute, if it is necessary to do so to save the Drivers’ World Championship from going to Ferrari. It seems that until there is absolutely no chance at all left for Sebastian Vettel to win the title, it is not going to help Mark Webber. Small wonder that Webber feels aggrieved with his team. The one thing he can do to strengthen his situation is to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but thanks to the decisions that have been made he still has to hope that Vettel will be there behind him to keep Alonso out of second place. If Vettel screws up, crashes or blows an engine, Red Bull Racing will likely lose the title because Alonso will be there to snap up second place. The only thing that the team could then hope for is some help from McLaren…

Red Bull has the best car and should, logically, finish 1-2 in Abu Dhabi, but if that is the case and Vettel leads Webber and Alonso to the finish line, then Alonso will win the title. Vettel’s only hope is that things will go badly wrong for Alonso and he will finish fourth, but that has happened only once in the last eight races. If the order is Vettel-Webber-Alonso as they go into the final lap on Yas Island it will be necessary to tell Vettel to allow Webber to pass, but if the team is really going to carry through this much-vaunted sporting attitude that it has spouted forth all year, it will have to give the biggest prize away.

No-one is that stupid in the modern day and age.

Worst still, if Alonso crashes or blows up and Vettel and Webber are running one-two in the final laps of the Abu Dhabi race, both will end up with 256 points and then it will be down to counting back the points. That would likely trigger utter mayhem between the two team mates… as we saw in Turkey, because Vettel would win the countback. If both collided and retired Webber would be champion… In such a scenario Webber has nothing to lose but to try to pass the German.

All of this could have been avoided by switching Vettel and Webber in Brazil. That would have meant the same Constructors’ points but would have meant that Alonso would have needed to beat at least one Red Bull to win the title. Switching Vettel and Webber would not have been a case of applying team orders to the detriment of the sport. It would have been logical and the FIA has never worried about such things in the closing stages of a championship. In any case, it can hardly punish Red Bull with more than a fine, having let Ferrari off earlier in the year, without making itself look bad.

Hey-ho… Roll on Abu Dhabi.



TBWG


PS Watch the climax at Irish Bar on Sunday!!

[TBWG]

World Championship permutations again by Joe Saward.

If you have had a few beers forget it ~~~ You need a clear head to follow this, so read when sober !

While Dietrich Mateschitz is telling the world that Red Bull is not like Ferrari and will not impose team orders in Abu Dhabi, he has managed to set himself up for a disaster because his strategic thinking has created a situation in which he has left both of his drivers in a situation where they must challenge the other… The Milton Keynes team should have won the championship easily, given the pace of the car, but screw-ups by the team and the drivers, and Mateschitz’s attitude have left the door open. Fernando Alonso can bang the door shut on the Red Bulls if he wins the race or finishes second. If the Red Bulls fail to finish then Alonso wins the title, in these scenarios it is irrelevant what happens to the Red Bulls.

If Alonso is third he can be beaten by Webber, but only if the Australian wins the race – or is allowed to win the race. If Webber is second behind Vettel and Alonso is third then Fernando wins the title. If Alonso is fourth he is also champion in those circumstances, but a fifth place finish with Vettel and Webber one-two would mean a three-way tie on points with Vettel and Webber. In that situation then Webber would be out of the picture, as he would have won only four races. Vettel and Alonso would each have five wins, two seconds, three thirds and Vettel would win it because he has three fourth places to Alonso’s two.

In the worst case scenario Mateschitz’s policy will cause the team to lose the title. Webber and Vettel both need to win and they have no reason to back off, because they have been left with no other choices. Webber is not going to deliberately take out Vettel (as others might perhaps be willing to do) and there is no incentive for Vettel to try to take Webber off because Sebastian needs to keep his car going. Thus if Webber is leading Vettel, the onus will be on Vettel to pass; and if the order is reversed the onus will be on Webber. A Vettel-Webber 1-2 leaves them on equal points (256) and Sebastian would take the title because he would have five wins to Mark’s four. In these circumstances Webber would be forgiven for making a risky challenge because he has nothing to lose and Vettel would be forgiven for closing the door because he needs to win the race. If he is second and Webber is fifth or lower and Alonso is ninth or lower then the title will be his. So to him it does not much matter if the two cars collide. It is a recipe for disaster because neither driver can afford to compromise.

The biggest disaster of all would be for Webber and Vettel to collide because they have no choices other than to be utterly uncompromising… and then for Alonso to come through to win.

If Alonso is out of the running, Vettel must be second if he is to win the title, but in that scenario Webber must not be ahead of him. The three could all end up with 246 points if Alonso retires, Vettel is third and Webber sixth. If that were to happen the crown would go to Alonso, because he would have five wins to Vettel’s four. Lewis Hamilton has a mathematical chance of winning the World Championship, but it is slimmer than slim: the British driver goes into the race 24 points behind Alonso, with 25 points available for a win, which means that Lewis would have to win the race, with Alonso failing to score, Webber in sixth or lower and Vettel no higher than third if he is sneak victory.

Got that?


TBWG

[nookiebear]

The Ruskies are joining forces with Virgin Racing in the form of Morussia Motors

[TBWG]

Hi F1 fans

1st Friday practice times


Pos.   Car   Driver   Car   Best lap   Gap   Laps
1   5   Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull-Renault   1’42.760      18
2   2   Lewis Hamilton   McLaren-Mercedes   1’43.369   0.609   16
3   1   Jenson Button   McLaren-Mercedes   1’43.785   1.025   19
4   6   Mark Webber   Red Bull-Renault   1’43.840   1.080   19
5   11   Robert Kubica   Renault   1’44.080   1.320   19
6   8   Fernando Alonso   Ferrari   1’44.121   1.361   17
7   3   Michael Schumacher   Mercedes   1’44.199   1.439   19
8   23   Kamui Kobayashi   Sauber-Ferrari   1’44.604   1.844   18
9   4   Nico Rosberg   Mercedes   1’44.718   1.958   19
10   22   Nick Heidfeld   Sauber-Ferrari   1’44.737   1.977   19
11   7   Felipe Massa   Ferrari   1’45.160   2.400   18
12   12   Vitaly Petrov   Renault   1’45.445   2.685   21
13   9   Rubens Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth   1’45.474   2.714   15
14   14   Adrian Sutil   Force India-Mercedes   1’45.552   2.792   20
15   15   Vitantonio Liuzzi   Force India-Mercedes   1’45.585   2.825   14
16   17   Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1’46.003   3.243   20
17   10   Nico Hülkenberg   Williams-Cosworth   1’46.664   3.904   19
18   16   Sebastien Buemi   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1’47.105   4.345   22
19   24   Timo Glock   Virgin-Cosworth   1’48.450   5.690   19
20   18   Jarno Trulli   Lotus-Cosworth   1’48.472   5.712   17
21   25   Lucas di Grassi   Virgin-Cosworth   1’49.375   6.615   13
22   21   Bruno Senna   HRT-Cosworth   1’49.590   6.830   18
23   20   Christian Klien   HRT-Cosworth   1’50.274   7.514   17
24   19   Fairuz Fauzy   Lotus-Cosworth   1’51.705   8.945   18

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix


TBWG

[TBWG]

Hi F1 Bums!

2nd Friday practice times


Pos.   Car   Driver   Car   Best lap   Gap   
1   2   Lewis Hamilton   McLaren-Mercedes   1’40.888      
2   5   Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull-Renault   1’41.145   0.257   
3   8   Fernando Alonso   Ferrari   1’41.314   0.426   
4   6   Mark Webber   Red Bull-Renault   1’41.315   0.427   
5   11   Robert Kubica   Renault   1’41.576   0.688   
6   7   Felipe Massa   Ferrari   1’41.583   0.695   
7   12   Vitaly Petrov   Renault   1’42.096   1.208   
8   1   Jenson Button   McLaren-Mercedes   1’42.132   1.244   
9   15   Vitantonio Liuzzi   Force India-Mercedes   1’42.203   1.315   
10   4   Nico Rosberg   Mercedes   1’42.222   1.334   
11   3   Michael Schumacher   Mercedes   1’42.246   1.358   
12   10   Nico Hülkenberg   Williams-Cosworth   1’42.449   1.561   
13   14   Adrian Sutil   Force India-Mercedes   1’42.535   1.647   
14   23   Kamui Kobayashi   Sauber-Ferrari   1’42.768   1.880   
15   9   Rubens Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth   1’42.914   2.026   
16   22   Nick Heidfeld   Sauber-Ferrari   1’42.950   2.062   
17   17   Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1’43.128   2.240   
18   16   Sebastien Buemi   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1’43.584   2.696   
19   19   Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Cosworth   1’45.180   4.292   
20   24   Timo Glock   Virgin-Cosworth   1’45.259   4.371   
21   18   Jarno Trulli   Lotus-Cosworth   1’45.612   4.724   
22   25   Lucas di Grassi   Virgin-Cosworth   1’46.053   5.165   
23   20   Christian Klien   HRT-Cosworth   1’47.210   6.322   
24   21   Bruno Senna   HRT-Cosworth   1’47.434   6.546   

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix


TBWG

[TBWG]

Hi Fi bums

Grid for Abu Dhabi GP ~~ Webbah certainly likes to make it difficult for himself!!



Row 1      1. Sebastian Vettel 1’39.394
Red Bull-Renault
   2. Lewis Hamilton 1’39.425
McLaren-Mercedes   
Row 2      3. Fernando Alonso 1’39.792
Ferrari
   4. Jenson Button 1’39.823
McLaren-Mercedes   
Row 3      5. Mark Webber 1’39.925
Red Bull-Renault
   6. Felipe Massa 1’40.202
Ferrari   
Row 4      7. Rubens Barrichello 1’40.203
Williams-Cosworth
   8. Michael Schumacher 1’40.516
Mercedes   
Row 5      9. Nico Rosberg 1’40.589
Mercedes
   10. Vitaly Petrov 1’40.901
Renault   
Row 6      11. Robert Kubica 1’40.780
Renault
   12. Kamui Kobayashi 1’40.783
Sauber-Ferrari   
Row 7      13. Adrian Sutil 1’40.914
Force India-Mercedes
   14. Nick Heidfeld 1’41.113
Sauber-Ferrari   
Row 8      15. Nico Hülkenberg 1’41.418
Williams-Cosworth
   16. Vitantonio Liuzzi 1’41.642
Force India-Mercedes   
Row 9      17. Jaime Alguersuari 1’41.738
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
   18. Sebastien Buemi 1’41.824
Toro Rosso-Ferrari   
Row 10      19. Jarno Trulli 1’43.516
Lotus-Cosworth
   20. Heikki Kovalainen 1’43.712
Lotus-Cosworth   
Row 11      21. Timo Glock 1’44.095
Virgin-Cosworth
   22. Lucas di Grassi 1’44.510
Virgin-Cosworth   
Row 12      23. Bruno Senna 1’45.085
HRT-Cosworth
   24. Christian Klien 1’45.296
HRT-Cosworth   


TBWG

[TBWG]

Hi F1 Bums!

Well i'm a fairly happy bunny.  A Red Bull World Champion mind you I would have preffered the other one, but at least monobrow did not take the spoils!

I am now a fully paid up member of the Vitaly Petrov fan club, well done! 

So all the nitty gritty here ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, United Arab Emirates;
55 laps; 305.355km;
Weather: .

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h39m36.837s
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +     10.1s
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     11.0s
 4.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     30.7s
 5.  Kubica        Renault                    +     39.0s
 6.  Petrov        Renault                    +     43.5s
 7.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     43.7s
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     44.2s
 9.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     50.2s
10.  Massa         Ferrari                    +     50.8s
11.  Heidfeld      Sauber-Ferrari             +     51.5s
12.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     57.6s
13.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     58.3s
14.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     59.5s
15.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +   1m03.1s
16.  Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth          +   1m04.7s
17.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +     1 lap
18.  Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
19.  Senna         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
20.  Klien         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
21.  Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth             +    4 laps

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1m41.274s

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              44
Schumacher    Mercedes                     1
Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes         1


World Championship standings, round 19:               

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       256        1.  Red Bull-Renault          498
 2.  Alonso       252        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          454
 3.  Webber       242        3.  Ferrari                   396
 4.  Hamilton     240        4.  Mercedes                  214
 5.  Button       214        5.  Renault                   163
 6.  Massa        144        6.  Williams-Cosworth          69
 7.  Rosberg      142        7.  Force India-Mercedes       68
 8.  Kubica       136        8.  Sauber-Ferrari             44
 9.  Schumacher    72        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         13
10.  Barrichello   47       
11.  Sutil         47       
12.  Kobayashi     32       
13.  Petrov        27       
14.  Hulkenberg    22       
15.  Liuzzi        21       
16.  Buemi          8       
17.  De la Rosa     6       
18.  Heidfeld       6       
19.  Alguersuari    5       
       
Schmacher should think himself lucky that he still has a head!   It was a bit to close for comfort, brown trousers time!

TBWG


PS For anyone bothered if you go back to beginning of season you will see I napped SV for WC    ~~~~  shame I did not have the courage of my convictions and slap a fiver on it