2012 Grand Prix season

[nookiebear]

2 Force India team members have gone home after their vehicle was firebombed.
Ecclestone could have blood on his hands ............ALL FOR THE SAKE OF GREED

[TBWG]

  Practice 1 dispatches from the front line, whilst Alonso and Massa suffer from shell shock!

Lewis Hamilton tops first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix


Friday, April 20th 2012

Full report to follow.


Pos  Driver                           Team                   Time              Laps
 1. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m33.572            11
 2. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m33.877s  + 0.305  21
 3. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m34.150s  + 0.578  26
 4. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m34.249s  + 0.677  23
 5. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m34.277s  + 0.705  14
 6. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1m34.344s  + 0.772  26
 7. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m34.483s  + 0.911  17
 8. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m34.552s  + 0.980  22
 9. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m34.609s  + 1.037  17
10. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m34.847s  + 1.275  20
11. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m35.024s  + 1.452  22
12. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m35.268s  + 1.696  24
13. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m35.436s  + 1.864  21
14. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1m35.497s  + 1.925  24
15. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m35.719s  + 2.147  19
16. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m35.929s  + 2.357  24
17. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m36.195s  + 2.623  20
18. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1m36.330s  + 2.758  11
19. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault       1m36.484s  + 2.912  18
20. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m36.591s  + 3.019  20
21. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.467s  + 3.895  17
22. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth      1m38.006s  + 4.434  18
23. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth           1m38.877s  + 5.305  19
24. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m39.996s  + 6.424  23


All Timing Unofficial



TBWG

[TBWG]

Insider info courtesy of John the Traveller


F1 truckie 'Spanner' has been out to the Sakhir circuit to see what conditions are like in advance of the race weekend. We print his notes.
TRACK NOTES/DRIVER BRIEFING

Start/Finish Straight: Tarmac looks very gnarly - about as rough as the proverbial camel's jacksie, so you'll have to wait for the HRTs to put some rubber down.

Turn 1: Braking point will be by the burnt-out police car
On full tanks it will be closer to the toppled statue of some bloke in robes (check they don't move it after FP1 as Charlie probably won't like statues of deposed former rulers close to the racing line, but he may go easy on them as everything's gone a bit ***sup this week.

Turns 2/3: Important to carry speed through these for the back straight, avoid the slippery painted surfaces where people have written DOWN WITH ECCLESTONE and JEAN IS A KNOB on the track. In Arabic obviously. Actually it might say EAT AT SALIM'S and my interpreter and security crew are just having a laugh. Jokers.

Turn 4: Braking point is by first tent of the Occupy Sakhir encampment. Don't worry about sliding off and into them, there'll be no-one inside, just like at St Paul's.

Turns 5/6/7: Should be flat out. Avoid the burnt effigy of Damon Hill on the apex of Turn 6.

Turn 8 - Molotov Hairpin: Don't hang around here the locals looks a bit lary. Keep one eye on the grandstand for hurled flaming objects and one eye on the track on exit.

Turn 9/10: Tricky little complex, get your line right on entry. Line up on the makeshift barrier of oil drums and mattresses that's been bulldozed aside .

Turns 11/12/13: This is the safer end of the circuit to go off - very few banners that say F1 DRIVERS GO **** YOURSELVES and far fewer missiles than the other grandstands - only small stones and pebbles, no bricks like Turn 9. A bit like Croydon in August, really.

General Notes
Remember, there's no Mercedes Safety Car this race - the Bahrain GP Safety Car will be a tracked vehicle that can do 26 mph (or 28 mph if they heat up the tracks in the garage before it goes out. Arf! What am I like?) It can only do 23 mph if it's firing its water canon.

Pitlane Entry
There'll be a barrier across the pitlane and you have to show your papers going into and out of the pits. No exceptions - failure to do so will incur a stop-and-go-to-jail penalty (or for Lewis, life imprisonment or something)

Cheers 'Spanner'
Nah - only kidding, it's exactly like it was in 2009. Had you there! What am I like?
            

[TBWG]

   
Hamilton Island
by Joe Saward

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the morning session on Friday in Bahrain, three-tenths of a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull. Paul di Resta was third for Force India. China winner Nico Rosberg was fourth with Jenson Button fifth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Michael Schumacher, Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen. Romain Grosjean completed the top 10.

Next up were Sergio Perez and Pastor Maoldonado, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, in his Williams, and Felipe Massa.

Kamui Kobayashi was next with Jean-Eric Vergne ahead of the two Caterhams of Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov and Daniel Ricciardo. At the back Marussia driver Charles Pic and Timo Glock (an interesting order) were ahead of Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan.


TBWG

[TBWG]

Nico Rosberg quickest in second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix as Force India take an early bath!

By Matt Beer    Friday, April 20th 2012

Nico Rosberg followed up his Shanghai victory with another commanding performance in the second free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

As off-track controversy escalated amid news that Force India would miss the session because of concerns about its personnel travelling back from the circuit after dark, Rosberg emphasised Mercedes' Sakhir speed with a pacesetting 1m32.816s.

The German set that time just over half an hour into the afternoon, ending a busy spell in which the two Mercedes and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had been swapping the top spot.

When he set that lap, Rosberg went a full 0.8 seconds quicker than anyone else, and although that margin reduced, no one was able to topple the Mercedes.

Mark Webber ended up second for Red Bull, 0.446s down on Rosberg, and 0.263s ahead of his team-mate Vettel, who had a near-miss with compatriot Michael Schumacher near the end of the session.

Neither car was damaged, and Schumacher completed the day in fifth, a second off his pacesetting Mercedes team-mate.

The seven-time champion was sandwiched between the two McLarens, with Lewis Hamilton fourth and Jenson Button sixth - 0.9s and 1.4s off Rosberg respectively.

Sauber had an encouraging session, as Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez took seventh and 10th, split by Fernando Alonso's Ferrari and Romain Grosjean's Lotus.

Force India's decision not to take part meant only 22 cars ran, with the Silverstone squad's crew instead getting an early start on preparing the cars for Saturday and qualifying before leaving the circuit.

There were myriad minor excursions over kerbs and run-off areas on the still-dusty track, but no major dramas, incidents or problems, with all the cars that ran completing between 25 and 35 laps.


Pos  Driver                       Team                  Time               Laps
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m32.816s            35
 2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m33.262s  + 0.446   26
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m33.525s  + 0.709   28
 4. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.747s  + 0.931   26
 5. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m33.862s  + 1.046   31
 6. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.246s  + 1.430   28
 7. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m34.411s  + 1.595   34
 8. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m34.449s  + 1.633   31
 9. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m34.615s  + 1.799   32
10. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m34.893s  + 2.077   34
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.895s  + 2.079   29
12. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m34.941s  + 2.125   29
13. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m35.183s  + 2.367   33
14. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m35.229s  + 2.413   26
15. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m35.459s  + 2.643   38
16. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m35.913s  + 3.097   32
17. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m35.968s  + 3.152   35
18. Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m36.169s  + 3.353   30
19. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.587s  + 3.771   32
20. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.803s  + 4.987   33
21. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m37.812s  + 4.996   28
22. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m39.649s  + 6.833   27

All Timing Unofficial


TBWG

[TBWG]

   
Nico leads the way
by Joe Saward

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the third practice session on Saturday morning in Bahrain, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Jneson Button and Kimi Raikkonen.

Daniel Ricciardo was next followed by Romain Grosjean, Fernando Alonso, Pastor Maldonado and Jean-Eric Vergne.

The Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were next ahead of Paul di Resta's Force India, Felipe Massa's Ferrari and Bruno Senna's Williams. Heikki Kovalainen was next wih Nico Hulkenberg and Vitaly Petrov following, ahead of the Marussias of Charles Pic, Timo Glock and the HRTs of Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan.



TBWG

[TBWG]

Pole finger!

   
Q3: Vettel on pole
by Joe Saward

Sebastian Vettel gave F1 another surprise in the Q3 session on Saturday in Bahrain with a lap that was a tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton's best. Mark Webber was third ahead of Jenson Button, with Nico Rosberg fifth.

The top 10 was completed by Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso, Romain Grosjean's Lotus, the Sauber of Sergio Perez, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, who did not run in the session and Paul Di Resta.

There were eight different teams in the top 10, which suggest that the race here in the desert is going to be a good one, no matter what is happening outside the gates of the circuit.

TBWG

Oh yes and Schuey starts 17th thanks to a Maldonado gearbox change penalty (otherwise it would be 18th) and Massa diced his way to 14th.

[TBWG]

   
Vettel holds off Raikkonen to win the Bahrain Grand Prix
By Matt Beer    Sunday, April 22nd 2012,


Sebastian Vettel delivered his first victory of the 2012 Formula 1 season in the Bahrain Grand Prix, and moved into the championship lead in the process - but only after resisting a stern challenge from the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen.

On a day when Lotus delivered everything it had promised in the opening races, Raikkonen and team-mate Romain Grosjean hacked through the field to complete the podium behind the winning Red Bull.

Mark Webber underlined Red Bull's gains with fourth, while pitstop problems consigned front row starter and erstwhile championship leader Lewis Hamilton's McLaren to eighth. Nico Rosberg completed the top five after an eventful race for Mercedes.

It soon became clear that the Lotus duo had stunning race pace. Although Vettel stormed away from initial pursuers Hamilton and Webber, Grosjean and Raikkonen were making rapid progress up the order.

Grosjean had moved into fourth at the start, then picked off Webber and Hamilton on laps four and seven, while Raikkonen vaulted from 11th to seventh off the line, had a quick wheel-banging battle with Felipe Massa's Ferrari, then got up to third by the time the first stops were done - by virtue of a string of passes and a long first stint.

Raikkonen then closed on Grosjean, overtook his team-mate on lap 24, just before their second stops, and started hunting down Vettel.

As they approached the final tyre changes, Raikkonen was on Vettel's tail and able to take several looks at passing the Red Bull.

The tension eased after the final stops, though, with Vettel able to rebuild a slight lead and keep the Lotus under control, despite the occasional flurry of fast times from Raikkonen.

Webber had a strangely lonely afternoon in fourth place, but there was plenty of action behind.

Rosberg slipped back to ninth on a scrappy first lap, before recovering to fifth - although he attracted the stewards' attraction along the way after some vigorous defensive moves against Hamilton and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). The incidents will be investigated after the race. Rosberg slowed as he crossed the line, but made it home for fifth.

The Mercedes' final pass had been on Paul di Resta's Force India with just five laps to go. Di Resta did a masterful job on a unique two-stop strategy, allowing him to lead a grand prix for the first time and take sixth place.

Hamilton's afternoon went awry in the pits, as a wheelnut issue with his left rear cost him a lot of time at both his first and second stops. The Briton had to settle for chasing di Resta and Alonso home in eighth place.

It was a miserable race for McLaren overall. Jenson Button spent the afternoon on the fringes of the top six before a late pitstop with a puncture, and then a mechanical problem that left his sick-sounding car heading for the garage on the penultimate lap.

Alonso had got up to fifth with an assertive start, but did not have the pace to stay there. Massa was respectably close to his team-mate's pace on the way to ninth, while Michael Schumacher was able to come through from 22nd on the grid to 10th in the second Mercedes.

Two stars of qualifying saw their race hopes rapidly dashed. Daniel Ricciardo tumbled down the order on lap one and sustained nose damage, after which he could only get the Toro Rosso back up to 15th. Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen picked up a puncture on lap one.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain, Bahrain;
57 laps; 308.405km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h35:10.990
 2.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +     3.300
 3.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +    10.100
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    38.700
 5.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    55.400
 6.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    57.500
 7.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    57.800
 8.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    58.900
 9.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1:04.900
10.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:11.400
11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:12.700
12.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +  1:16.500
13.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:30.300
14.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:33.700
15.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
16.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
17.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     1 lap
19.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps
20.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
21.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
22.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:36.379

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Maldonado     Williams-Renault             26
Pic           Marussia-Cosworth            25


World Championship standings, round 4:               

  Drivers:                         Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel        53        1.  Red Bull-Renault          101
 2.  Hamilton      49        2.  McLaren-Mercedes           92
 3.  Webber        48        3.  Lotus-Renault              57
 4.  Button        43        4.  Ferrari                    45
 5.  Alonso        43        5.  Mercedes                   37
 6.  Rosberg       35        6.  Sauber-Ferrari             31
 7.  Raikkonen     34        7.  Williams-Renault           18
 8.  Grosjean      23        8.  Force India-Mercedes       17
 9.  Perez         22        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          6
10.  Di Resta      15       
11.  Senna         14       
12.  Kobayashi      9       
13.  Vergne         4       
14.  Maldonado      4       
15.  Hulkenberg     2       
16.  Schumacher     2       
17.  Massa          2       
18.  Ricciardo      2       
       
All timing unofficial


TBWG

[TBWG]

BARCELONA

Nearly local boy comes good…

May 11, 2012 by Joe Saward

Fernando Alonso set the fastest time of the first free practice session in Barcelona, a result which seemed rather unlikely given the pace of the Ferrari thus far this year. The cynics in F1 suggested that this might be something to do with the sale of tickets on Sunday, or perhaps the lack of them. Still, it made the grandstands happy and that is never a bad thing. Fernando was four-tenths faster than Sebatsian Vettel’s Red Bull with Kamui Kobayashi third ahead of Jenson Button. Fifth fastest was a surprise with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas doing a terrific job in his role as the Williams reserve driver. Michael Schumacher was sixth in his Mercedes ahead of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus, Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren and the second Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 in his Force India, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso, Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and Mark Webber’s Red Bull.

Nico Rosberg was next ahead of Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo. Pastor Maldonado was 17th ahead of Force India test driver Jules Bianchi, Caterham’s Vitaly Petrov, Timo Glock’s Marussia, Alexander Rossi in the second Caterham, Charles Pic in the second Marussia and the two HRTs of Pedro de la Rosa and test driver Dani Clos.


Practice 2

   
Jenson Button quickest in Spanish Grand Prix practice two
By Pablo Elizalde    

Jenson Button overcame understeer issues with his McLaren to post the quickest time of the day in second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver used Pirelli's soft tyres to set a best time of 1m23.399s - enough to beat world champion Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull by 0.164 seconds.

Nico Rosberg put Mercedes in third position, with Button's team-mate Lewis Hamilton in fourth and Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen completing the top five, albeit over half a second off the pace.

Raikkonen's team-mate Romain Grosjean was sixth ahead of Mark Webber in the second Red Bull, with Michael Schumacher, Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.

This morning's pacesetter Fernando Alonso had to settle for 14th position in the Ferrari.

With the track temperatures rising to 43 degrees Celsius, Sergio Perez was the early pacesetter for Sauber with a lap of 1m25.532s, but the Mexican was demoted around eight minutes into the session, when Vettel stopped the clock at 1m25.000s.

Schumacher was the first man to lap in the 1m24s in the afternoon session just moments later, the German jumping to the top with a 1m24.859s, still some four tenths of a second off Alonso's best from the morning.

The Spaniard returned to first position at the 18-minute mark with a lap that was still around three tenths off his best, but 0.120s faster than Schumacher. Jean-Eric Vergne relegated the local hero to second three minutes later with a fastest lap just 0.006s better than Alonso's.

A few minutes later, Vettel flew to the top of the times in his first run on Pirelli's softs, the world champion's 1m23.563s the best time of the weekend until that point. Sauber's Kobayashi moved into second position, albeit over six tenths off Vettel's best, by also running with the softer compound.

Hamilton first and Webber later also completed runs on the soft tyres to move to second and third behind Vettel.

With 35 minutes gone it was Button's turn to go out with softs, and the Briton made good use of them to spring to the top of the times with a 1m23.399 despite having complained of severe understeer earlier on.

Alonso went out on softs with some 41 minutes to go, but the Spaniard aborted his first flying lap after a first split that was slower than his rivals. He completed the lap in the next attempt, but was only 13th quickest.

Webber was the protagonist of the first incident of the session when he went off the track at Turn 4, the Australian leaving a lot of stones on the circuit as he made his way back to the asphalt.

Webber's move was mirrored by Perez later on, the Sauber driver also having a trip across the gravel at the same corner.

As teams worked on longer runs, the times at the top stayed mostly unchanged for the last 30 minutes of the session.

HRT's Narain Karthikeyan, whose car was driven by Dani Clos in the opening session, failed to set a time in the afternoon, the Indian stopping on track with a problem. He had spent nearly an hour in the garage waiting for his mechanics to solve an electrical issue.


Pos  Driver                           Team                  Time               Laps
 1.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.399            38
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m23.563s  + 0.164  38
 3.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m23.771s  + 0.372  41
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.909s  + 0.510  32
 5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m23.918s  + 0.519  32
 6.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m23.964s  + 0.565  37
 7.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m24.065s  + 0.666  34
 8.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m24.080s  + 0.681  36
 9.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m24.214s  + 0.815  41
10.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m24.365s  + 0.966  22
11.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m24.418s  + 1.019  35
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m24.422s  + 1.023  32
13.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m24.468s  + 1.069  40
14.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m24.600s  + 1.201  33
15.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m24.688s  + 1.289  30
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m24.733s  + 1.334  34
17.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m24.769s  + 1.370  37
18.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m25.047s  + 1.648  42
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m26.296s  + 2.897  36
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m26.740s  + 3.341  35
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m27.314s  + 3.915  27
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m27.664s  + 4.265  30
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m28.235s  + 4.836  26
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          no time              2

All Timing Unofficial


TBWG

[TBWG]

   
El Vettel…
by Joe Saward

Sebastian Vettel set the pace in the third free practice session for the French GP, although the times were clearly rather mixed up as some of the drivers were clearly saving tyres at the end of the session whent he fast times were recorded. There were 14 driver covered by 1.2 seconds with Pastor Maldonado second ahead of Kamui Kobayashi, Mark Webber, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso. Jean-Eric Vergne was next with Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg close behind, but ahead of Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, Danial Ricciardo and Bruno Senna. There was then a gap of two-tenths of a second to Paul di Resta, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and then the usual Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs. Romain Grosjean was slowest, having stopped out on the track early in the session.


Qualy~~~~

Lewis Hamilton storms to Spanish Grand Prix pole position
By Matt Beer    Saturday, May 12th 2012,

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix by a commanding margin over shock front row man Pastor Maldonado's Williams.

In a session full of surprises, Hamilton was half a second quicker than Maldonado, who had been rapid in final practice, topped Q2, and then held provisional pole for a while.

Hamilton was the only frontrunner to do two runs in Q3, and his initial benchmark stood until first local hero Fernando Alonso in the much improved Ferrari, then the incredible Maldonado beat him.

But there was still more to come from Hamilton, who produced a 1m21.707s to give McLaren its 150th Formula 1 pole. The Briton then stopped on track on his slowing-down lap.

Just behind Maldonado, Alonso held second ahead of Lotus team-mates Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, who again proved extremely competitive.

Both Saubers made it into Q3, with Sergio Perez going on to take sixth, but Kamui Kobayashi consigned to 10th as his car expired on the way back to the pits at the end of Q2.

Nico Rosberg was seventh after just one early run in Q3, while both Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Rosberg's Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher chose to save tyres and not doing any flying laps in Q3, so qualified eighth and ninth.

The presence of the underdogs in the top 10 inevitably meant some big names were squeezed out in Q2, and it was Jenson Button - who had been uncomfortable with the McLaren's handling all day - and Mark Webber who found themselves on the wrong side of the cut-off. The McLaren and Red Bull will share row six, double Catalunya polesitter Webber having been sat in the pits at the end of the session as others improved and pushed him backwards.

It was a bad day for Felipe Massa as well, the Ferrari driver registering his worst grid position so far in this already-disappointing season as he qualified behind the Force Indias and Toro Rossos in 17th.

While Maldonado stormed towards the front, his Williams team-mate Bruno Senna pushed too hard in his efforts to keep up - spinning into the gravel at the end of Q1 and ensuring an instant exit.

Vitaly Petrov outqualified Caterham team-mate Heikki Kovalainen for the first time as the back-of-the-grid teams lined up in the usual order. Charles Pic was quicker than fellow Marussia man Timo Glock, and HRT's Narain Karthikeyan will needs stewards' permission to race as apparent mechanical issues left him a long way from the 107 per cent margin.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m21.707s
 2.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m22.285s
 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m22.302s
 4.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m22.424s
 5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m22.487s
 6.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m22.533s
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m23.005s
 8.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     No time
 9.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             No time
10.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m22.904s                                    Gap **
11.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m22.944s   +  0.839
12.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m22.977s   +  0.872
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m23.125s   +  1.020
14.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m23.177s   +  1.072
15.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m23.265s   +  1.160
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m23.442s   +  1.337
17.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m23.444s   +  1.339
Q1 cut-off time: 1m24.362s                                    Gap *
18.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m24.981s   + 2.398
19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m25.277s   + 2.694
20.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m25.507s   + 2.924
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m26.582s   + 3.999
22.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m27.032s   + 4.449
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m27.555s   + 4.972
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m31.122s   + 8.539

107% time: 1m28.363s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2


TBWG

[TBWG]

Hamilton penalty hands Maldonado first pole position
2012 Spanish Grand Prix
May 12, 2012  by Keith Collantine

Pastor Maldonado has inherited pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton was handed a grid penalty after stopping on his return to the pits in Q3 and will start from the back of the grid.

McLaren instructed Hamilton to stop as he had too little fuel in the car and needed to retain enough to provide a sample to the FIA for testing.

Although the rules allow a car to be stopped on its return to the pits if needed, a shortage of fuel is not considered an acceptable reason.

A statement from the stewards read:

“The stewards received a report from the race director which stated that during post-qualifying scrutineering a sample of fuel was required from car four, however, the car failed to return to the pits under its own power as required under Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.

“The stewards heard from the team representative Mr Sam Michael who stated that the car stopped on the circuit for reasons of force majeure. A team member had put an insufficient quantity of fuel into the car thereby resulting in the car having to be stopped on the circuit in order to be able to provide the required amount for sampling purposes.

“As the amount of fuel put into the car is under the complete control of the competitor the stewards cannot accept this as a case of force majeure.

“The stewards determine that this is a breach of Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations and the competitor is accordingly excluded from the results of the qualifying session. The competitor is however allowed to start the race from the back of the grid.”

Article 6.6.2 of the technical regulations states: “Competitors must ensure that a one litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the event.

“Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power.”

TBWG

[ischme]

Pit Stop and garage errors seem to be costing McLaren alot of points.

[TBWG]

Pit Stop and garage errors seem to be costing McLaren alot of points.

All happening since Sam Michael arrived ~~~ Coincidence his previous team now on pole following his departure?


TBWG

[TBWG]

   
Pastor Maldonado takes shock Spanish Grand Prix win for Williams
By Matt Beer    Sunday, May 13th 2012,

Top spot on the podium for Pastor ~~~ who would have thought it! Ferrari 2nd and 15th Felipe baby is on borrowed time!


Pastor Maldonado scored his maiden Formula 1 win and ended a Williams victory drought dating back to the end of the 2004 season as the Venezuelan defeated local hero Fernando Alonso's Ferrari in an absorbing Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona's Catalunya track.

The Williams and Ferrari were absolutely together going into the final laps, but the superbly composed Maldonado was able to edge away and secure victory, leaving Alonso to fend off Kimi Raikkonen's flying Lotus for second.

Alonso had taken the lead at the start by beating Maldonado into the first corner, and then inched into a three-second lead during the first stint, as they pulled clear of the rest of the field.

But the combination of a stunning out-lap by Maldonado and Alonso getting stuck behind Charles Pic's Marussia on his in-lap saw the Williams leapfrog the Ferrari at the second pitstops, and then storm away for a few laps until 7s clear.

Alonso then started coming back at Maldonado, getting the gap down to 4.2s before the Williams had a slightly slow final pitstop with a left-rear issue. A few laps behind Raikkonen, who was running much further before his final pitstop, meant the leaders were absolutely nose to tail going into the closing laps as both tried to keep their tyres intact.

For a while it looked inevitable that Maldonado would succumb to Alonso's pressure, but it was the Ferrari that started to lose pace in the final stages, and the lead gap began to increase again - allowing Maldonado to take a very unexpected victory by 3.1 seconds.

Raikkonen's fresher tyres allowed him to gain on the leaders at a ferocious rate as the race neared its end, but he ran out of time to catch Alonso, finishing six tenths of a second adrift.

Romain Grosjean finished fourth in the other Lotus, with Kamui Kobayashi pulling off some characteristically bold passes on the way to fifth for Sauber.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel produced a late charge to take sixth after losing ground with a drive-through penalty for failing to heed yellow flags and requiring a new front wing at his final pitstop.

Nico Rosberg's Mercedes and both McLarens fell victim to Vettel's surge up the order, with Rosberg then fending off last-place starter Lewis Hamilton for seventh as the Briton managed to make a two-stop strategy work against expectations. His team-mate Jenson Button struggled for pace all day and finished ninth.

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg resisted huge pressure from Mark Webber, who lost ground on lap one and needed an out-of-sequence pitstop for a new front wing.

Behind the Toro Rossos and the second Force India of Paul di Resta, Felipe Massa had another bad race for Ferrari. Penalised for a yellow flag infringement, he finished only 15th.

Retirements included Michael Schumacher and Bruno Senna, who tangled at Turn 1 when the fresh-tyre-shod Mercedes ran into the back of the yet-to-pit Williams, and Sergio Perez. The Sauber picked up a puncture while trying to attack the Lotus pair at the first corner, and later parked just after a messy pitstop.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Spanish Grand Prix
Catalunya, Turkey;
66 laps; 307.104km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos       Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           1h39:09.145
 2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     3.195
 3.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +     3.884
 4.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +    14.799
 5.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:14.641
 6.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +  1:17.576
 7.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:27.919
 8.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:28.100
 9.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:25.200
10.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
11.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     1 lap
12.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
13.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
14.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
15.  Massa         Ferrari                    +     1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
17.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps
19.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Grosjean, 1:26.250

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Perez         Sauber-Ferrari               38
Pic           Marussia-Cosworth            36
Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth                 23
Senna         Williams-Renault             13
Schumacher    Mercedes                     13


World Championship standings, round 5:               

Drivers:                        Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel        61        1.  Red Bull-Renault          109
 2.  Alonso        61        2.  McLaren-Mercedes           98
 3.  Hamilton      53        3.  Lotus-Renault              84
 4.  Raikkonen     49        4.  Ferrari                    63
 5.  Webber        48        5.  Williams-Renault           43
 6.  Button        45        6.  Mercedes                   43
 7.  Rosberg       41        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             41
 8.  Grosjean      35        8.  Force India-Mercedes       18
 9.  Maldonado     29        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          6
10.  Perez         22       
11.  Kobayashi     19       
12.  Di Resta      15       
13.  Senna         14       
14.  Vergne         4       
15.  Hulkenberg     3       
16.  Schumacher     2       
17.  Massa          2       
18.  Ricciardo      2       
       



TBWG

[TBWG]

Don't you just love Sir Frank 

Talking about Pastor Maldanado and the sponsorship he brings.


Yeah, he was to some extent (initially at the team because of money); I'm not denying that," Williams is quoted by Autosport. "But if we thought he'd been a wanker, he wouldn't have got in the team no matter how much money he had. He did a very sensible job in GP2 and he fully deserves to be in the team with or without the dosh. The truth is that if you haven't got the dosh, you can't go Formula 1 racing.