2011 F1 Grand Prix season

[TBWG]

Hi F1 Bums

Well I am now home in Satuk and preparing my in depth report!

But as little taster here are a couple of pics.

TBWG 

[Vombatus]

Nice pics - is the front girl in red a khatoey

[F1ART]

Hi David
Is that you in the middle with the light blue shirt?

[TBWG]

Hi David
Is that you in the middle with the light blue shirt?

Adrian you know full well blue does not suit me!  Coco sorry no Katoeys in India  but she does have a slight tash!

 
TBWG

[TBWG]

Next Instament in a passage to India !

Well arrived safely in India and will someone please give me a good slapping if I ever critisize Thai drivers again as they are angels compared to Indians! This is not my first time in India so I should have known better.
 
But it appears that once behind the wheel they think they are immortal and anyone in their way should just make way for them, consequently they just lay on the horn even when there it utter gridlock in front of them!

Anyway, I arrive at a dusty bus park early Friday morning to board the bus only to find that my bus pass ticket has been supplied minus the tear off slip that allows me on the bus, no I MUST have the tear off slip! They seem unable to grasp the fact that I cannot get back to Europe and sort out this piece of paper in the 20 minutes before the bus leaves.

A lot of persistance means I am passed up the chain of command, can I get a photo copy of the ticket stub that I do have. Well as mentioned I am in the middle of dusty car park, don't speak the lingo and there do not appear to be any shops in sight! So no I can't get a photocopy. Once again I am passed up the chain of command, where the whole rigmarole is gone through again, once more further up the chain of command.  It appears to me that this whole chain of command lark is just to polish the egos of people in the chain so they can lord it over those below them for their moment of glory before they start grovelling to the next higher level.

Well someone makes an executive decision that they will take a note of the number of the ticket then I can get on the bus.  Only problem is I have 2 more days to catch this bus and no tear off strip for any of them!

The suicidal driver of this 30 year old? bus eventually sets off for the circuit a maximum speed and half an hour later here we are at the new Buddh Circuit

More to follow!

TBWG



PS Pic below shows new Ferrari rear end! plus more attractive option!

[TBWG]

Greetz fans!


First impression on arrival at circuit reasonably impressed, but after going through security and being told I could not bring in my sarnies and having my water confiscated I am not too happy.

Eventually get in after having my ticket scutinised on at least 6 occassions by locals all revelling in their moment of glory!

So I make my way to the press accreditation department and tell them I am the GP correspondent for Buriram Expats. They are most impressed when I tell them that the 2 regular readers of the blog are waiting with bated breath for my in depth reporting and promptly show me the door. I think in Hindi it went something like bugger off and don't waste our time!

Not to be put off I managed to scrounge an FIA vest from a contracter and combined with an official FIA pass for the 2011 Chinese GP managed to blag my way in to the restricted area.   

I hope you guys appreciate my sterling efforts and show your appreciation in the usual way. e.g. a bottle of Archa!

Well I am now feeling a bit peckish and could do with some refreshment, well can't buy food with cash need to buy with vouchers, queue for said vouchers can be seen from the moon it is so long. Half hour later I am feeling pleased with myself as I have a fist full of vouchers for the 3 days, oh dear I am advised by another irate englishman that vouchers can only be used on day of purchase. H'mmm.

To late but I need a nice cool beer to perk me up! beer, beer,  no beer for sale at the circuit, for christ sake they are Hindus not Muslims and Kingfisher beer amongst others sponsor the teams.

I soon find out that buying beer in India is not easy, but the Kingfisher special at 8% has a kick when you finally track it down.

Well I think I will go and sit in the stands and eat my grub and finish off my can of pop, sorry sir no cans in the grandstand. By now my blood presure is off the scale and I am on the point of being ejected from the circuit after telling all and sundry what a petty bunch of ar**holes they are.

I will say that they learn quick and the following days things got a hell of a lot easier, but it takes time to filter down to the minions who are relishing their new found power.

Most importantly as a cheap Charlie I was able to use my vouchers on the following days.


More to follow! Oh yes and the race!


TBWG

PS Yes I know I am incapable of putting the vest on properly!

[TBWG]

Next instalment


Well you don't want to read any of my biased drivel on the race so I have nicked an excellent report by F1 Fanatic

30th October 2011  by Keith Collantine

Sebastian Vettel had the Indian Grand Prix under control from the first lap of the race and took his 11th win of the season.

He was never threatened by Jenson Button, who finished second, while Mark Webber slipped to fourth behind Fernando Alonso.

Alonso had lost ground at the start as he ran wide at the first corner, falling behind Button. As they came onto the long back straight Button lined up Webber and took second place.

Behind them several cars had made contact: Rubens Barrichello lost his front wing at the first corner and ran wide, pushing Kamui Kobayashi off.

The Sauber driver drove into the path of Timo Glock when he returned to the track. The pair made contact, which ultimately put both out.

As they reached turn three Narain Karthikeyan hit Jarno Trulli, tipping the Lotus into a spin, but both continued.

Vettel set about extending his customary advantage at the start. Webber had a couple of looks at Button in the DRS zone, enough to force the McLaren driver to defend, but not enough to make a pass.

Behind them were the two Ferraris, Felipe Massa having passed Lewis Hamilton off the line.

The two Mercedes were next, Michael Schumacher behind Nico Rosberg. Like Vettel in Korea, Schumacher had avoided using his KERS when the lights went out, using it all on the long back straight, and moving up to eighth.

Adrian Sutil and Bruno Senna were behind them but they soon came under attack from the Toro Rossos. Using their superior straight line speed and the added boost of the DRS zone, Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi both moved ahead. Senna complained his KERS wasn’t working as he fell back into the clutches of Pastor Maldonado.

By lap 17 Vettel’s lead had stabilised at just over four seconds. Webber, Alonso and Hamilton pitted together shortly after. Vettel and Button stayed out the next time by but Massa did come in.
Massa and Hamilton clash again

On lap 24 Massa made a slight mistake at turn one and suddenly Hamilton was all over him. On the next lap Hamilton had a run at the Ferrari going into turn five.

Massa moved to defend his position but Hamilton was able to get down the inside of the Ferrari. Massa turned in, and contact was as inevitable as it was avoidable.

The stewards concluded Massa had caused the latest collision between the two and handed him a drive-through penalty. Hamilton had to pit for a new front wing.

Massa’a race quickly went off the rails as he had to switch to the unfavourable hard tyres – a legacy of having lost a set of softs during his qualifying crash. The vibrating front wing from practice made a reappearance and shortly afterwards he was out of the race.

Heading into turn nine Massa hid the kerb on the inside and suffered a repeat of his suspension failure from qualifying. The visibly unhappy Ferrari driver stalked back to the pits.

None of this troubled Vettel who was troubled only by the occasional dawdling backmarker on his way to victory. Button closed on him during the pit stops, Vettel pitting after the McLaren driver on their two visits, but was always able to re-establish his lead.

Alonso closed on Webber during the second stint and the Red Bull driver made an early switch to hard tyres, hoping to preserve his advantage. It didn’t work: Alonso came out of his final pit stop back in front of the Red Bull driver.
Schumacher jumps past Rosberg

The Mercedes drivers also traded places at the final round of pit stops. Schumacher stayed out longer on the soft tyres to jump ahead of his team mate and claim fifth.

Hamilton progressed no further than seventh, complaining of understeer in his McLaren after the contact with Massa. Alguersuari claimed eighth for Toro Rosso but his team mate retired halfway through.

Senna ran in the points towards the end of the race but it was an illusion – he hadn’t made his mandatory switch to hard tyres and once he did he slipped to 12th.

That promoted Sutil and Sergio Perez. The latter used the opposite strategy to Senna, starting the race on hard tyres and getting rid of them early, going on to claim the final point.

Vitaly Petrov did likewise and had a couple of scruffy off-track moment on his way to 11th. Paul di Resta was another driver who started the race on hard tyres, hoping for an early safety car period which never happened. He finished 13th.

The Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen was 14th having run as high as tenth during the race. He finished ahead of the delayed Barrichello.

Behind Jerome d’Ambrosio, Narain Karthikyean brought his HRT home ahead of team mate Daniel Ricciardo, who made an extra pit stop late in the race. Trulli was the final runner.

With both titles already won, Vettel continues to amass more records. Today he had his first perfect result (pole, win, fastest lap, led every lap) and set a new record for most laps led during a season.

The Indian Grand Prix may have been a new event at a new track. But with Vettel continuing his domination, another run-in for Massa and Hamilton, and Webber and Alonso battling for position, the race had a decidedly familiar feel.


pos     Country      Driver             Car   Team                     Grid   Fastest lap   Race time   Points
1   germany   Sebastian Vettel   1   Red Bull-Renault   1   1:27.249   1:30:35.002   25
2   great britain   Jenson Button   4   McLaren-Mercedes   4   1:27.967   +00:08.433   18
3      Fernando Alonso   5   Ferrari   3   1:27.953   +00:24.301   15
4   australia   Mark Webber   2   Red Bull-Renault   2   1:27.520   +00:25.529   12
5   germany   Michael Schumacher   7   Mercedes GP   11   1:28.549   +01:05.421   10
6   germany   Nico Rosberg   8   Mercedes GP   7   1:28.600   +01:06.851   8
7   great britain   Lewis Hamilton   3   McLaren-Mercedes   5   1:28.721   +01:24.183   6
8      Jaime Alguersuari   19   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   10   1:29.239   lapped   4
9   germany   Adrian Sutil   14   Force India-Mercedes   8   1:29.289   lapped   2
10   mexico   Sergio Perez   17   Sauber   20   1:29.345   lapped   1
11   russian federation   Vitaly Petrov   10   Renault   16   1:29.289   lapped   
12   brazil   Bruno Senna   9   Renault   14   1:29.310   lapped   
13   great britain   Paul Di Resta   15   Force India-Mercedes   12   1:28.679   lapped   
14   finland   Heikki Kovalainen   20   Lotus-Renault   18   1:30.294   lapped   
15   brazil   Rubens Barrichello   11   Williams-Cosworth   15   1:28.635   lapped   
16   belgium   Jerome d'Ambrosio   25   Virgin-Cosworth   21   1:31.990   lapped   
17   india   Narain Karthikeyan   22   HRT-Cosworth   24   1:31.988   lapped   
18   australia   Daniel Ricciardo   23   HRT-Cosworth   23   1:31.674   lapped   
19   italy   Jarno Trulli   21   Lotus-Renault   19   1:31.691   lapped   
20   brazil   Felipe Massa   6   Ferrari   6   1:30.243   retired, 32 laps   
21   switzerland   Sebastien Buemi   18   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   9   1:30.956   retired, 24 laps   
22   venezuela   Pastor Maldonado   12   Williams-Cosworth   13   1:33.573   retired, 12 laps   
23   germany   Timo Glock   24   Virgin-Cosworth   22   2:09.008   retired, 2 laps   
24   japan   Kamui Kobayashi   16   Sauber   17      retired, 0 laps   

TBWG


PS 2nd pic shows drivers observing 1 minute silence for Dan Wheldon & Marco Simoncelli

[TBWG]

More pics

TBWG

[TBWG]

 Well if you are still awake and not bored stiff and would like to see the complete album of pics in all it's glory, just PM your email address and I will forward it!


TBWG

[downtime]

Well done David, excellent reporting, I am confident that your contract will be renewed at the end of the season so please do not be tempted by any silly offers from the likes of Autocar or anyone else as you have a loyal following at Buriram Expats!!

[TBWG]

Abu Dhabi

1st practice

   
Webber pushes Button
by joesaward

Jenson Button set the fastest time of the first practice session in Abu Dhabi, with Mark Webber in hot pursuit in his Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton was third fastest, with World Champion-elect Sebastian Vettel fourth. The two Ferraris were next up with Fernando Alonso ahead of Felipe Massa (as per usual), although both men had big spins in the course of the session. Adrian Sutil was next up in his Force India, ahead of Nico Rosberg, Paul di Resta and the two Toro Rossos of Jaime Alguersuari and Jean-Eric Vergne.

The Renaults of Romain Grosjean and Vitaly Petrov were next up ahead of the Williams of Pastor Maldonado, Michael Schumacher and the two Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi. Then came the two Lotuses of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli, the two HRTs of Tonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo, the Virgins of Timo Glock and Robert Wickens, the former having a big spin as he raced to keep the youngster at bay, with Rubens Barrichello at the back, the victim of a mechanical problem.


TBWG

[TBWG]

2nd practice blurb by Joe Saward


Lewis Hamilton set a hot pace in the cool of the evening in Abu Dhabi on Friday, outpacing his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button in the moonlight. The two Ferraris were third and fourth but the Italian cars were being pished hard by the drivers with Fernando Alonso again going off, glancing a wall on this occasion. The Red Bull Racing drivers were also pushing hard, with both going on. Mark Webber having a spin and Sebastian Vettel sliding sideways into a wall. The German’s car was returned to the pits and rejoined at the end of the session, but the two men ended up fifth and sixth with the Australian ahead. Michael Schumacher was seventh ahead of the two Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta, with the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez next, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi, the Renault of Vitaly Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari’s STR and Bruno Senna in the second Renault.

The two Williamses were 16th and 17th ahead of the two Lotuses, Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes, which was testing new parts, and the Virgins of Timo Glock and Jerome d’Ambrosio. At the back as ever were Tonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo in the HRTs.


TBWG

[TBWG]

Vettel on pole in Abbu Dhabbu


Vettel pops McLaren bubble

November 12, 2011 by joesaward

Sebastian Vettel beat the two McLarens to pole position in Abu Dhabi, with a last minute run, just when it looked like Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button would start the race 1-2. Mark Webber was fourth. Ferrari were fifth and sixth with Fernando Alonso ahead of Felipe Massa. Mercedes were seventh and eighth with Nico Rosberg outgunning Michael Schumacher, while the top 10 was completed by the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta.


Pos           Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m38.481s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m38.622s  + 0.141
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m38.631s  + 0.150
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m38.858s  + 0.377
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m39.058s  + 0.577
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m39.695s  + 1.214
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m39.773s  + 1.292
 8.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m40.662s  + 2.181
 9.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m40.768s  + 2.287
10.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes
Q2 cut-off time: 1m40.554s                                   Gap **
11.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m40.874s  + 2.440
12.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m40.919s  + 2.485
13.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m41.009s  + 2.575
14.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m41.079s  + 2.645
15.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m41.162s  + 2.728
16.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m41.240s  + 2.806
17.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m41.760s  + 3.326
Q1 cut-off time: 1m42.605s                                   Gap *
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m42.979s  + 3.197
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m43.884s  + 4.102
20.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m44.515s  + 4.733
21.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m44.641s  + 4.859
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m44.699s  + 4.917
23.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m45.159s  + 5.377
24.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosoworth   no time


107% time: 1m46.766s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2


TBWG

[TBWG]

   
Hamilton dominates the Abu Dhabi GP as Sebastian Vettel retires
By Matt Beer    Sunday, November 13th 2011,

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton ended a victory drought stretching back to July by winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - after world champion Sebastian Vettel retired on the very first lap due to damage from a puncture.

Fernando Alonso was a close second for Ferrari, with Jenson Button completing the podium despite KERS issues on his McLaren.

Vettel had surged into a clear lead from pole at the first corner, but just one bend later his Red Bull was slewing into a wild spin as its right rear tyre deflated. The champion tried to nurse his car back to the pits, but the flailing rubber had already done too much damage, so Vettel posted his first retirement since last year's Korean GP.

That put Hamilton into the lead, with Alonso in second having passed Mark Webber (Red Bull) at the start and then gone around the outside of Button at the end of the back straight to secure second.

There was little to choose between the McLaren and Ferrari for most of the rest of the race - with the gap sometimes barely more than a second. Ferrari tried to gain an advantage by running longer before Alonso's second stop, but to no avail, and in the final stint Hamilton's lead grew to more comfortable levels as he headed towards his third win of an often-troubled 2011 season.

After losing time with a stubborn wheel at his first stop, Webber tried to regain ground with a three-stop strategy that saw him only change to the harder Pirellis on the very last lap. That did not allow him to beat Button - with whom he had battled fiercely for much of the race - but he did take fourth, helped by Felipe Massa's challenge fading when the Ferrari had a quick spin with six laps to go. The Brazilian quickly rejoined to take fifth.

Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher had a spectacular early battle, won by the younger German, who went on to take sixth, close behind Massa. Schumacher narrowly beat Force India's Adrian Sutil to seventh. Sutil's team-mate Paul di Resta and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi completed the points scorers, the former pulling off a one-stop strategy.

Just outside the top 10, Rubens Barrichello ended Williams's awful weekend on a slightly brighter note by charging from the back of the grid to 12th, right on 11th-placed Sauber driver Sergio Perez's tail.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

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

Classified:

Pos     Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h37:11.886
 2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     8.457
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    25.881
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    35.784
 5.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    50.578
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    52.317
 7.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:15.900
 8.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +  1:17.100
 9.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:40.000
10.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
12.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
13.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
14.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
15.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
16.  Senna         Renault                    +     1 lap
17.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap
18.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
19.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
20.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.612

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth                 49
Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           19
D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth              18
Vettel        Red Bull-Renault             1


World Championship standings, round 18:               

       Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       374        1.  Red Bull-Renault          607
 2.  Button       255        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          482
 3.  Alonso       245        3.  Ferrari                   353
 4.  Webber       233        4.  Mercedes                  159
 5.  Hamilton     227        5.  Renault                    72
 6.  Massa        108        6.  Force India-Mercedes       57
 7.  Rosberg       83        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             42
 8.  Schumacher    76        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         41
 9.  Petrov        36        9.  Williams-Cosworth           5
10.  Sutil         34       
11.  Heidfeld      34       
12.  Kobayashi     28       
13.  Alguersuari   26       
14.  Di Resta      23       
15.  Buemi         15       
16.  Perez         14       
17.  Barrichello    4       
18.  Senna          2       
19.  Maldonado      1       
       
All timing unofficial


TBWG 

[TBWG]

Brazil 1st practice.

   
G’day for Webber
by joesaward

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber made a good start to the day on Friday at Interlagos with the fastest time of the first practice session for the Brazilian GP at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo. The Australian was just a fraction ahead of Jenson Button's McLaren and a tenth ahead of the similar car of Lewis Hamilton, while Sebastian Vettel was a tenth down on Hamilton. The Ferraris were fifth and sixth with local hero Felipe Massa ahead, but Fernando Alonso ended the session stopped out on the track with what appeared to be an engine problem of some sort. Michael Schumacher was seventh but only just ahead of fellow countryman Nico Hulkenberg, who was standing in for Adrian Sutil in the session, in the Force India. Hulkenberg beat team-mate Paul di Resta by a tenth. Nico Rosberg completed the top 10 in the second Mercedes, ahead of Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso, Romain Grosjean's Renault (although this also stopped out on the track), Rubens Barrichello's Williams (at the start of what might be his final F1 race weekend as a driver) and Bruno Senna in the second Renault (on what might be his last race for that team). Kamui Kobayashi was 15th, despite a spin, with Pastor Maldonado next in his Williams (in what may be his last...) and Sergio Perez in the second Sauber.

Jean-Eric Vergne was surprisingly slower than Alguersuari in the second Toro Rosso, which suggest that the Frenchman may have had a problem, while the rear end of the timesheet featured the two Lotuses of Heikki Kovalainen and local boy Luiz Razia, the Virgins of Timo Glock (who stopped out on the track) and Jerome d'Ambrosio (in what may be his last...) and the two HRTs of Daniel Ricciardo and Jan Charouz.

The session featured trials of a new TV camera attached to Sebastian Vettel's helmet. Helmetcam  was new, different and rather vomit-inducing if you watched too closely.


TBWG