2011 F1 Grand Prix season

[TBWG]

Hi   

Ham-garoring II

July 29, 2011 by joesaward

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the second practice session in Budapest, beating Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa. The Mercedes were seventh and eight with Nico Rosberg ahead Michael Schumacher. The Force Indias were next with Paul di Resta beating Adrian Sutil and the two Saubers, Kamui Kobayashi just ahead of Sergio Perez.

Rubens Barrichello was 13th, ahead of Nick Heidfeld and Pastor Maldonado, with Jaime Alguersuari next up, ahead of Vitaly Petrov, who was struggling in the session with his Renault. At the back were the two Lotuses, Jarno Trulli ahead of Heikki Kovalainen, the two Virgins with Timo Glock ahead of Jerome d’Ambrosio and the two HRTs at the back with Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Tonio Liuzzi on this occasion.

Practice 1

Pos        Driver                Team                  Time               Laps
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.350s            19
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m23.564s  + 0.214   24
 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m23.642s  + 0.292   29
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m23.666s  + 0.316   12
 5.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.772s  + 0.422   20
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m24.115s  + 0.765   25
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m24.250s  + 0.900   22
 8.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m24.369s  + 1.019   20
 9.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m24.620s  + 1.270   24
10.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault               1m25.093s  + 1.743   22
11.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.113s  + 1.763   21
12.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m25.336s  + 1.986   22
13.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m25.357s  + 2.007   17
14.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1m25.836s  + 2.486   24
15.  Bruno Senna           Renault               1m25.855s  + 2.505   25
16.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m25.890s  + 2.540   28
17.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m26.099s  + 2.749   36
18.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth     1m26.124s  + 2.774   25
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault         1m26.878s  + 3.528   26
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault         1m27.352s  + 4.002   21
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth       1m28.533s  + 5.183   30
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth       1m28.903s  + 5.553   22
23.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth          1m29.059s  + 5.709   24
24.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth          1m29.904s  + 6.554   26

Practice 2

Pos            Driver                Team                  Time               Laps
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m21.018s           29
 2.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m21.259s  + 0.241  40
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m21.322s  + 0.304  34
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m21.508s  + 0.490  35
 5.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m21.549s  + 0.531  31
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m22.099s  + 1.081  40
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m22.121s  + 1.103  36
 8.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m22.440s  + 1.422  36
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m22.835s  + 1.817  40
10.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m22.981s  + 1.963  37
11.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m23.030s  + 2.012  34
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m23.399s  + 2.381  37
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1m23.679s  + 2.661  34
14.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault               1m23.861s  + 2.843  28
15.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth     1m24.181s  + 3.163  39
16.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m24.182s  + 3.164  26
17.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault               1m24.546s  + 3.528  21
18.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m24.878s  + 3.860  35
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault         1m24.994s  + 3.976  38
20.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault         1m25.447s  + 4.429  39
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth       1m26.823s  + 5.805  33
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth       1m27.261s  + 6.243  28
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth          1m27.730s  + 6.712  31
24.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth          1m28.255s  + 7.237  25

All Timing Unofficial



TBWG

[TBWG]

Hi folks


Vettel beats McLarens to HungaryGrand Prix pole


By Jamie O'Leary    

Sebastian Vettel maintained Red Bull's 100 per cent pole position record this year as he stormed to the head of the Hungarian Grand Prix grid with a flying late effort in qualifying.

The world champion had been trailing behind Lewis Hamilton as he began his second and final effort at the end of Q3, but saved his best until last as he lapped the Hungaroring in 1m19.815s, just 0.163 seconds ahead of the McLaren driver.

Jenson Button made it two McLarens inside the front three while a superb late effort by Felipe Massa gave him fourth spot, demoting his Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso to fifth and the Red Bull of last year's race winner Mark Webber to sixth.

Adrian Sutil was a superb eighth for Force India, splitting Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher as the trio - unlike the top six - only undertook a single flying lap in Q3. Sergio Perez, who will start 10th for Sauber, did not bother going out at all.

There was a gap of almost two seconds from first to 10th with a couple of minutes of Q2 remaining, the result of which was that the top seven at that moment - led by Button - did not undertake second runs.

All of those drivers had done enough to make it into Q3, but behind them the order was constantly changing. Late flyers for Sutil and Schumacher brought the Force India and Mercedes drivers into the top 10 after the chequered flag had come out.

The big loser was Sutil's team-mate Paul di Resta, who was bumped back to 11th. The Renaults of Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld were 12th and 14th, split by Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber, while Rubens Barrichello and Jaime Alguersuari were next up for Williams and Toro Rosso.

Barrichello's team-mate Pastor Maldonado did not venture out in Q2, after the Venezuelan pulled himself into the session at the very end of Q1 with a flying lap. The Williams driver knocked Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso out of the reckoning.

The star of Q1 was Heikki Kovalainen, who put his Lotus 19th and just over 0.1s behind Buemi.

Behind him were his team-mate Jarno Trulli, Virgin's Timo Glock and Hispania drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo, all of whom will move ahead of Buemi once his five-place grid penalty for colliding with Heidfeld in German last weekend is applied.

Pos            Driver                Team                 Time          Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m19.815s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m19.978s  + 0.163
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m20.024s  + 0.209
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m20.350s  + 0.535
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m20.365s  + 0.550
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m20.474s  + 0.659
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m21.098s  + 1.283
 8.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m21.445s  + 1.630
 9.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m21.907s  + 2.092
10.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m23.067s                                   Gap **
11.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m22.256s   + 1.994
12.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m22.284s   + 2.022
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m22.435s   + 2.173
14.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault              1m22.470s   + 2.208
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m22.684s   + 2.422
16.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m22.979s   + 2.717
17.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    No time
Q1 cut-off time: 1m23.285s                                    Gap *
18.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m24.070s  + 2.492
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m24.362s  + 2.784
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m24.534s  + 2.956
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m26.294s  + 4.716
22.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m26.323s  + 4.745
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m26.479s  + 4.901
24.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m26.510s  + 4.932

107% time: 1m27.288s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2


TBWG

[Prakhonchai Nick]

Surely consideration should be given to retiring cars that have been lapped. They juts block up the works

[downtime]

TBWG I appreciate you support for F1 but when you mentioned on the shout box that Vettell had pole you omitted the most importand result of qualifying that Hamilton and Button were on his tail in 2nd and 3rd. Could be a good race!! Best regards to you David look forward to see you back here in Buriram soon.

[TBWG]

Hi Nick

If all lapped cars were forced to retire it would be a pretty boring event, in Australia 99 Hakkinen & Coulthard lapped the entire field, watching 2 cars would not be much entertainment! I seem to recall  Senna lapping the entire field at Donnington during the 90's but may be wrong!

Hi DT

Don't want anyone accusing me of bias!!  But as a Brit it's good to see Lewis and Jenson breathing down his neck, let's hope they get the better of him, see you in October! Steve?


TBWG 

[TBWG]

Hi F1 bums

 

Button zips it up

      

By Matt Beer    Sunday, July 31st 2011, 13:51 GMT

Jenson Button claimed victory in his 200th grand prix as he perfectly judged an absorbing race in changeable weather in Hungary.

McLaren could have had a one-two, with Lewis Hamilton leading much of the race, but a tyre strategy misjudgement and a penalty ruined Hamilton's afternoon.

World championship leader Sebastian Vettel had to settle for second, ahead of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari and the recovering Hamilton.

McLaren had taken the advantage early in a race that began on a damp track with everyone on intermediates, Hamilton attacking Vettel relentlessly through the opening laps as both slid around in a dice more reminiscent of a karting scrap than Formula 1.

The lead finally changed on lap five, when Vettel ran wide at Turn 2 and Hamilton breezed past and pulled away, soon extending a four-second lead over the championship leader, who was at least able to drop Button at this stage.

Laps 10 to 13 saw all the leaders decide the track was ready for slicks, and coming in one lap sooner than Vettel paid off for Button, who made the most of his warmer tyres and greater confidence to take second place into Turn 2.

Mark Webber pulled off the same move on Alonso for fourth at the same time. The Ferrari had lost ground through the first corner on the opening lap, then charged back up the order despite two minor trips off the road.

The relatively serene middle phase of the race saw Hamilton holding a comfortable gap over Button, who had a similar 5s advantage back to Vettel, while Webber fended off Alonso 10s behind them.

Alonso decided to make a relatively early third pitstop and take another set of super softs, while all the other leaders except Hamilton switched to the harder softs at this point.

The burst of pace on fresh Pirellis allowed Alonso to jump both Red Bulls during his rapid laps before they pitted, though the tyres then began to wear and he lost third to Vettel again.

Hamilton followed the same strategy as Alonso, which left him looking very vulnerable to Button as he looked unlikely to pull out enough of a gap to pit again for the softs, but in the event the return of the rain rendered these tactics rather irrelevant.

The sudden shower hit on lap 47, causing Hamilton to spin at the chicane. He tried to rejoin as quickly as possible, but could not prevent Button taking the lead - and also forced Paul di Resta's lapped Force India off the road as he rotated, a move that would ultimately earn Hamilton a penalty.

With the rain increasing, Button slipped up at Turn 2 four laps later, allowing Hamilton back into the lead. Button retaliated on the following lap and briefly regained first place on the pits straight, only to go wide again at Turn 2 as the top spot was exchanged yet again.

But just as Hamilton moved back into first, he made what turned out to be the costly decision to pit again for intermediates. It was obvious almost immediately that this was the wrong call, as the rain rapidly vanished, and the Briton was soon back in for slicks. His drive-through penalty for nearly wiping out di Resta soon followed, dropping him to sixth and leaving Button clear to win.

The 2009 champion briefly came under pressure from Vettel, but had the pace to pull away again and clinch his second victory of the year.

With Webber also switching to intermediates unnecessarily, Alonso regained third, which he held despite a quick late spin.

Hamilton battled back to fourth ahead of Webber, with Felipe Massa recovering from an early spin to sixth in the other Ferrari.

Kamui Kobayashi tried to go the distance on just two tyre stops and held seventh heading into the closing stages, albeit with a massive queue of cars chasing his Sauber. The plan did not work, and he had to pit for fresh rubber after tumbling down the order, as di Resta came through to seventh and Sebastien Buemi turned 23rd on the grid into an eighth place for Toro Rosso.

Mercedes only took ninth place, Nico Rosberg having also pitted for intermediates late on. Michael Schumacher had a gearbox problem shortly after spinning while dicing with Massa in the opening stages. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) clashed with Kobayashi during their late battle but still took 10th.

Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Sergio Perez (Sauber) saw their great qualifying results wasted in a first lap incident that delayed both.

One of the most spectacular incidents of this highly eventful race befell Nick Heidfeld, whose Renault caught fire in the pit exit after a long stop, with a minor explosion on its left-hand side as the marshals dealt with the blaze.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

70 laps; 306.663km;
Weather: Mixed conditions.

Classified:

Pos      Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           1h43:42.337
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +     3.588
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    19.819
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    48.338
 5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    49.742
 6.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1:17.176
 7.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
 9.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     1 lap
10.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
11.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
12.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
13.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +    2 laps
14.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +    2 laps
15.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +    2 laps
16.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +    2 laps
17.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    4 laps
18.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    4 laps
19.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    5 laps
20.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:23.415

Not classified/retirements:

Driver          Team                         On lap
Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault                56
Schumacher    Mercedes                     27
Heidfeld      Renault                      24
Trulli        Lotus-Renault                18


World Championship standings, round 11:               

Drivers:                        Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       234        1.  Red Bull-Renault          383
 2.  Webber       149        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          280
 3.  Hamilton     146        3.  Ferrari                   215
 4.  Alonso       145        4.  Mercedes                   80
 5.  Button       134        5.  Renault                    66
 6.  Massa         70        6.  Sauber-Ferrari             35
 7.  Rosberg       48        7.  Force India-Mercedes       26
 8.  Heidfeld      34        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         22
 9.  Schumacher    32        9.  Williams-Cosworth           4
10.  Petrov        32       
11.  Kobayashi     27       
12.  Sutil         18       
13.  Buemi         12       
14.  Alguersuari   10       
15.  Di Resta       8       
16.  Perez          8       
17.  Barrichello    4       
       
All timing unofficial



TBWG

[downtime]

Very entertaining race to watch well done Button

[TBWG]

Very entertaining race to watch well done Button

Just completed my Visa application form for Indian GP! Only hope it goes ahead?


TBWG

[TBWG]

 

Grandprix.com has been leaked a copy of the minutes from a Parliamentary Select Committee on F1 Racial Abuse.


Chairman: Gentlemen. Just to inform you that this session is being held in camera.

Mr. E: Camera? Who's got the rights? Who's paying me?

Chairman: No, no, Mr. Ecclestone. I'm saying this is private.

Mr. E: Sorry; got carried away. Lot to be said for going private. F1 should be like that. We're doing what we can.

Chairman: Which leads me to the complaints about your arrangements for F1 TV coverage. I see we also have a representative from the BBC; Mr. Ben Bollock.

BBC: That's Bolloks, actually.

Chairman: No need to be so rude at this stage...

BBC: No, no; it's Ben Bolloks.

Chairman: Beg your pardon. Who else do we have? Representing FOTA, a Mr. Martin Marshwit.

FOTA: Yes, thank you Mr. Chairman. I'd just like to say that this is very positive and..

Chairman: All in good time, Mr. Marshwit. Anyone from Sky?

Mr. E: He's outside, taking an ad break. But he's across this, hacking into your stenographer's email.

Chairman: Let's get straight to the point. Mr. Marshwit, you've gone on record as saying this deal will increase the viewing figures. How so?

FOTA: Mr. Ecclestone told us. He said the figures will probably exceed 10 million.

Mr. E: No, it's 60 million.

Chairman: Good grief! Sixty million viewers?

Mr. E: Dollars! That's what you asked, wasn't it? It's certainly what we asked.

FOTA: I have to say that this is very positive for the teams and...

Chairman: I'm sure it is Mr. Marshwit. But that is precisely the point. One moment you are saying FOTA supports the fans and then, in the words of one of many tweets I've come across, you've, and I quote, 'right royally shafted us and don't give a f...' Sorry, I better not continue, but you get my gist? The fans are unhappy.

Mr. E: Fans? Whatd'ya mean?

Chairman: The people who pay to come to watch your races.

Mr. E: Oh, that lot! Bloody nuisance, clogging up the roads. I see them from my helicopter every race. They're always complaining. I mean, be fair; we keep asking the race promoters for more money so that the gate prices have to go up - and these people still keep coming. I ask you. We do what we can.

Chairman: But, again, have you not hit the nail on the head? The BBC can't continue as before because they can't afford the huge amount of money F1 is asking. Could the teams, in these difficult times, not reduce their costs? Do they really need all this money? Mr. Marshwit, how do you answer that?

FOTA: Well, it's very positive because there's Sky and the BBC covering the races, which has to be very positive news.

Chairman: How do you arrive at that conclusion?

FOTA: Mr. Ecclestone told us we're getting more money, which is very positive and can I just say...

Chairman: Sorry, I'll have to interrupt and ask Mr. Bollock for his view.

BBC: Bolloks.

Chairman: Yes, I know that is thrust of more than 7500 very angry comments in response to your statement on the BBC website, but how do you suppose the new liaison with Sky will work?

BBC: We will be covering half the races live, Sky will do them all and we'll have highlights. This deal offers the best outcome.

Chairman: For who, exactly? Let me get this straight: you've produced superb coverage of every race; five hours of quality television - Mr. Eddie Jordan notwithstanding - each weekend, raised the bar to new heights and now you're doing half that, people are being asked to pay £600 for the other half - and you're saying this is best outcome?

BBC: Exactly! The BBC has to slash costs thanks to the wretched government cutbacks, and yet we're still doing F1.

Chairman: I appreciate the difficult financial circumstances you find yourself in but is this not a way to save the BBC from having to pay handsomely for breaking its contract early while, at the same time, allowing Mr. Ecclestone to say F1 continues to be 'free-to-air', as enshrined in the Concorde Agreement? Mr. Ecclestone, do you have any comment?

Mr. E: We spoke to these people. The Beeb do a super job. We have a lot of supporters in football. It's good for F1. It's gonna be okay.

Chairman: You're nodding your head vigorously. I fail to see your point.

Mr. E: That is the point. We do what we can.

Chairman: Can I ask the BBC why, if money needs to be saved, £900m is being spent moving staff out of London to somewhere they don't want to go? And, on another curious note, a prime-time slot was given over to the riveting news that there was one year to go until the London Olympics when the technicians and crew needed to broadcast this live show looked as if they outnumbered the puzzled on-lookers in Trafalgar Square?

BBC: Nothing to do with me. All I know is they didn't have to pay F1 a bloody big fee to do it.

Mr. E: We're doing what we can.

FOTA: We thought it was very positive.

Chairman: What was positive?

BBC: Look, I think what we're all trying to say...

Chairman: I understand exactly what you're all trying to say and, frankly Mr. Bollock, it's a bit of a fudge to cover F1 making even more obscene amounts of money.

BBC: It's Bolloks!

Chairman: Precisely. Knew you'd come round to my way of thinking. Meeting closed.

TBWG

[TBWG]

OK Folks

Monza 1st practice

   
Hamilton tops first practice at Monza



Pos                 Driver                Team                  Time               Laps
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.865s            18
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.786s  + 0.921   19
 3.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m25.231s  + 1.366   25
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m25.459s  + 1.594   24
 5.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m26.550s  + 2.685   23
 6.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault               1m26.625s  + 2.760   20
 7.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m26.647s  + 2.782   20
 8.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m26.676s  + 2.811   24
 9.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m26.694s  + 2.829   28
10.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m26.696s  + 2.831   15
11.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m26.699s  + 2.834   21
12.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m26.826s  + 2.961   21
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1m26.836s  + 2.971   25
14.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m26.996s  + 3.131   29
15.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth     1m27.365s  + 3.500   25
16.  Bruno Senna           Renault               1m27.385s  + 3.520   23
17.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m27.433s  + 3.568   25
18.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m27.492s  + 3.627   24
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault         1m29.539s  + 5.674   10
20.  Karun Chandhok        Lotus-Renault         1m30.148s  + 6.283   19
21.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth          1m30.609s  + 6.744   27
22.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth          1m30.619s  + 6.754   24
23.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth       1m31.052s  + 7.187   12
24.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth       1m31.899s  + 8.034   22

     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Vettel back on top in second practice for the Italian Grand Prix
By Pablo Elizalde    Friday, September 9th 2011

Red BullChampionship leader Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest time in the second Friday practice session for the Italian Grand Prix, just beating McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel, who had a low-key morning session after finishing over 1.3 seconds off Hamilton, could not match the time set by the Briton in the opening session, however, finishing with a 1m24.010s.

The Red Bull driver outpaced Hamilton by 0.036s, but the Briton looked set to go quicker than that before he was hit by traffic during his run of soft tyres.

Michael Schumacher had a promising afternoon with the third quickest time in the Mercedes.

Ferrari's drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso had a stronger session than in the morning, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Mark Webber was sixth quickest in the second Red Bull.

The afternoon session saw a much busier start than the morning one, with several driver posting a time right away.

Sauber's Sergio Perez was the early pace-setter, before he was demoted to second before the ten-minute mark by Hamilton, who posted a 1m26.507s on his first run with the medium tyres.

The first incident of the session also took place before ten minutes had passed, when Sebastien Buemi went wide at Parabolica, the Toro Rosso driver crashing against the barriers. Although he was unhurt, the Swiss driver's car was heavily damaged and could not return to action.

After that, Button shot to the top of the times with a lap in the 1m25s, with Webber moving to second less than two tenths behind the Briton.

Webber improved on the following lap to outpace Button, but it was team-mate Vettel who took the top spot after 15 minutes when he stopped the clock at 1m25.635s, improving by over a second on the following laps as he completed a longer run.

It took until the 45-minute mark for Vettel to be demoted from first place, when Schumacher completed a run with the soft tyres to set a 1m24.816s, improving to a 1m24.347s on the following lap.

Schumacher's time was closely matched by Massa, the Brazilian completing his first run on softs to finish just 0.019s behind the Mercedes driver.

As more drivers began to use the softer Pirelli compound, the times continued to tumble, with Hamilton going quickest with 30 minutes left.

Vettel's first lap on the soft tyre was hindered by traffic, but the German still managed to move up to second behind the McLaren driver, who looked set to go even quicker on his second lap but nearly made contact at Parabolica with a very slow Jamie Alguersuari.

Vettel did manage to go quicker on his second lap of the run and jumped to the top with a 1m24.010s.

Daniel Ricciardo endured a difficult session after spending most of the 90 minutes in the garage as his HRT mechanics worked on the car. He managed just seven laps.


Pos  Driver                Team                  Time              Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m24.010s           37
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.046s  + 0.036  21
 3.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m24.347s  + 0.337  39
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m24.366s  + 0.356  33
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m24.433s  + 0.423  31
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m24.468s  + 0.458  32
 7.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.508s  + 0.498  30
 8.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.097s  + 1.087  39
 9.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.182s  + 1.172  37
10.  Bruno Senna           Renault               1m25.325s  + 1.315  38
11.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault               1m25.450s  + 1.440  31
12.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m25.496s  + 1.486  39
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m25.683s  + 1.673  37
14.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m25.758s  + 1.748  29
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1m26.202s  + 2.192  36
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth     1m26.353s  + 2.343  40
17.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m28.347s  + 4.337   5
18.  Jarno Trulli           Lotus-Renault        1m28.559s  + 4.549  32
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault         1m28.605s  + 4.595  32
20.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth       1m28.804s  + 4.794  25
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth          1m29.162s  + 5.152  34
22.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m29.184s  + 5.174  29
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth       1m29.622s  + 5.612  34
24.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth          1m29.841s  + 5.831   7

All Timing Unofficial


TBWG

[downtime]

OK TBWG
Noticed you on line

As the professional you are who do you predict will be second to the finger
Before you say anything I belive Button may be there!!

[TBWG]

Hi Steve

Think you may be right! Webber seems good at going backwards down the grid, Lewis likes crashing , Ferrari well they are trying but it just does not seem to be working for them, So yes it should be JB!

I think Monza has Maccas name on it, famous last words.

See you soon.


TBWG

[TBWG]

The pros and cons of a Thai Grand Prix

September 6, 2011 by joesaward

The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) says that it is considering a bid to host a Grand Prix. The agency, which is run by the government, is responsible for promoting, developing as well as regulating, coordinating and facilitating domestic and international events in Thailand. This is necessary as the country is still suffering from the after-effects of the military coup in 2006 which ousted then then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. There has been regular violence since then as his supporters challenged the government led by Abhisit Vejjajiva. There was an election in July and although Thaksin lives in exile in Dubai to avoid being arrested, his sister Yinglat was elected Prime Minister. The country hopes that there will now be peace although there is no doubt that there is still bitterness between the two main parties.

The goal now is to rebuild the tourist business and attract worldwide attention and so Formula 1 is a logical step. The plan is to research the effects that F1 could have on the Thai economy and then decide on whether to bid. There is much competition for races in Asia with events in Malaysia, Singapore, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. A demonstration run in Bangkok recently by Red Bull attracted huge crowds. The government is looking closely at Singapore’s experience, which has transformed the city’s reputation, even if the race itself is not so popular with the locals because of the disruption caused by the street closures. The Thais must decide whether it is worth building a circuit, or extending an existing facility or running a street race. Street races involve smaller initial investment but cost more in the longer term. The bureau may wish for a race in Bangkok, but it might be wiser to extend the 1.5-mile circuit near the seaside resort of Pattaya, which was built in 1985 and is named after Prince Birabongse Bhanutej Bhanubandh (known in Europe as “Prince Bira”) who raced Grand Prix cars with some success in the 1940s and 1950s. This is currently not suitable for Formula 1. There were plans as long ago as 1939 for a Grand Prix of Thailand, which was being planned by Prince Bira. Sadly that event never happened as World War II broke out a few months before it was due to happen.

The Thais have one major advantage over rival countries. The Red Bull company is 51 percent owned by Chaleo Yoovidhya (who owns 49 percent) and his son Chalerm (who owns two percent). Dietrich Mateschitz owns the remaining 49 percent, but runs the business, leaving the Thais to market their original energy drink Krating Daeng (on which Red Bull is based) in the Asian markets. Chaleo is now the richest person in Thailand, with a fortune estimated at $4 billion. Chalerm to become Thailand’s most celebrated winemaker, while also being the co-owner of Cavallino Motors, which sells Ferraris in Thailand. This is a joint venture with the Bhirombhakdi Family, which owns the Singha Beer company.

Money from a public-private partnership could thus be found… so long as politics do not get in the way.


TBWG

Maybe but not in my lifetime! But hope to be proved wrong!

[TBWG]

Thailand  ~~~~ How it should be done

Change coming in Singapore

September 10, 2011 by joesaward

The word on the street in Singapore is that the city is studying alternative venues for the Grand Prix, because the disruption caused in the downtown area has not gone down well with the locals. The plan is to incorporate the race into a new “Sports Hub”, which is being developed at Kallang, not far from the track, slightly further out of town. This would reduce the traffic disruption considerably while still allowing large crowds to be delivered by the MRT underground network, as there will be a new Stadium station built.

The Sports Hub is designed to draw international events to the world-class facilities and generate sports spectator tourism, while also encouraging Singaporeans to be a more sporting nation (and therefore to become fitter). The aim is for the facilities to be ready by 2014, including a new 55,000-seater National Stadium, with a retractable and air conditioning, an indoor Stadium with 12,000 seats, an Aquatic Centre, a multi-purpose indoor area, a commercial space for leisure, shopping and dining activities, plus a water sports centre, which will use the Kallang Basin. Plus a library, a museum and an exhibition centre.

The plan seems to be to run a track on the roads around the various stadiums. One presumes that this will continue to happen at night and that sections of the track will be by the river, so that the backdrop of downtown Singapore can still be used.

This is a view of what the new development will look like. You can see the Marina Bay facilities and the Casino with its distinctive roof garden in the distance on the left.


TBWG

[TBWG]

3rd Practice times


Pos            Driver                Team                  Time              Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m23.170s           18
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m23.534s  + 0.364  19
 3.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m23.668s  + 0.498  14
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.741s  + 0.571  17
 5.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.787s  + 0.617  16
 6.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m23.875s  + 0.705  22
 7.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m24.114s  + 0.944  20
 8.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m24.133s  + 0.963  14
 9.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m24.543s  + 1.373  21
10.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m24.581s  + 1.411  22
11.  Bruno Senna           Renault               1m24.853s  + 1.683  20
12.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault               1m24.889s  + 1.719  19
13.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m24.948s  + 1.778  22
14.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.261s  + 2.091  21
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1m24.319s  + 2.149  19
16.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m25.426s  + 2.256  19
17.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m25.439s  + 2.269  22
18.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth     1m25.539s  + 2.369  19
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault         1m27.328s  + 4.158  19
20.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault         1m27.491s  + 4.321  21
21.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth       1m28.186s  + 5.016  23
22.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth          1m28.441s  + 5.271  22
23.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth       1m28.962s  + 5.792  17
24.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth          1m30.316s  + 7.146  16
 

Qualy


Vettel storms to Monza pole position
By Edd Straw    Saturday, September 10th 2011,

Sebastian Vettel maintained Red Bull's 100 per cent record of securing pole position in 2011 by topping the times in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.

The runaway world championship leader breezed through the first two segments of qualifying, comfortably setting the best time in Q2, and ended Q3 0.450s ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The German immediately asserted his dominance in Q3, bumping McLaren driver Jenson Button from the top of the times with his first flying lap. But when on course to improve on his second flier of that run, he was forced to abort after a lurid slide in the Ascari chicane.

With Lewis Hamilton only 0.112s behind him after the first runs, Vettel had no choice but to go back out for another attempt. But both McLaren drivers had to abort their final runs, with Hamilton locking up his front-left heading into the second chicane and Button losing time in the final sector, leaving German to knock another 0.338s off his fastest time unchallenged.

Fernando Alonso qualified fourth, within one-tenth of a second of Button, after improving on his final run. He knocked Mark Webber down to fifth place, with positions second through to fifth covered by only three-and-a-half tenths.

Felipe Massa qualified sixth, with Vitaly Petrov causing an upset by beating Mercedes pairing Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to best of the rest honours after putting in a lap of 1m23.530s late in the session. Unusually, Schumacher was the better of the two Mercedes drivers, comfortably outpacing Rosberg, largely thanks to his speed advantage in the second sector. They both ended up ahead of the second Renault of Bruno Senna, the Brazilian opting not to run after using all of his option rubber after making Q3 for the second consecutive race.

Force India pairing Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta looked on course to make the top 10 shoot-out having ended Q1 ninth and 10th, only to lose out to the Renaults in the next session.

Petrov set his time, which proved good enough to make Q3, on his sole run, but Senna had to rely on a last-gasp effort to bump di Resta by just six-thousandths of a second.

Behind them, Rubens Barrichello pipped Williams team-mate Pastor Maldonado by less than a tenth. That said, the Venezuelan was perhaps fortunate even to be in Q2 after losing control exiting the Parabolica and spinning into the barrier on the inside of the track during the first segment of qualifying.

The only significant damage he suffered was to the front wing, meaning that he could limp back to the pits and return to the track a few minutes later.

Behind them, Sauber pairing Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi, never looked like credible threats to make Q3.

The other Toro Rosso driver, Jaime Alguersuari, was the main casualty in Q1, joining regular drop-outs Team Lotus, Virgin and HRT.

The Spaniard was bumped into 18th place in the dying moments of the session by team-mate Sebastien Buemi and Rubens Barrichello. He ended up 0.170s off the Swiss.

Jarno Trulli was best of the 'new team' group, outpacing Lotus team-mate Heikki Kovalainen by half-a-second, with all cars comfortably within the 107 per cent qualifying cutoff.

Pos             Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m22.275s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m22.725s   + 0.450
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m22.777s   + 0.502
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m22.841s   + 0.566
 5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m22.972s   + 0.697
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m23.188s   + 0.913
 7.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m23.530s   + 1.255
 8.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m23.777s   + 1.502
 9.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m24.477s   + 2.202
10.  Bruno Senna           Renault              No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m24.157s                                   Gap **
11.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m24.163s   + 1.249
12.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m24.209s   + 1.295
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m24.648s   + 1.734
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m24.726s   + 1.812
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m24.845s   + 1.931
16.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m24.932s   + 2.018
17.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m25.065s   + 2.151
Q1 cut-off time: 1m25.164s                                    Gap *
18.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m25.334s   + 1.358
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m26.647s   + 2.671
20.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m27.184s   + 3.208
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m27.591s   + 3.615
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m27.609s   + 3.633
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m28.054s   + 4.078
24.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m28.231s   + 4.255

107% time: 1m29.854s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2



TBWG


Still think Macca could take this one