FIA Formula 1 Championship 2012

[CoDer]

afaik, webber made 3 stops. vettel gambled on 2 stops because of grid position. good gamble based on the results.

And his position were taken over near the end of the race because his tire can no longer hold their grip.

Bad strategy.

[niky]

And his position were taken over near the end of the race because his tire can no longer hold their grip.

Bad strategy.

Webber started 6th. Ended up 4th. Gained two places.

Vettel started 11th. Fell back to 14th due to a chaotic start. Gained six places off his start to finish 5th. Gained nine places from that disastrous first lap. I think he made the most of a bad situation... and he managed those tires pretty well to keep a top five finish... in a car that was 3/10ths slower than Webber's because of that old spec exhaust system... which was the same reason why he couldn't get into Q3.

The fact that all three of Vettel's qualifying laps in Q2 were within less than a tenth of each other shows that he was pushing the car to its fullest, and it was still too slow.

-

The two-stopper was a good gamble. Rosberg won on a two stopper with excellent tire management and race strategy, holding enough of a lead over Button so that Button couldn't overtake him in the pits. Even if Button hadn't had that bad stop, he would still have been several seconds behind Rosberg at the end, and would have still had to overtake the Mercedes on the track after catching him. Something that doesn't seem likely given the Mercedes' straightline speed.

Lotus did it wrong with Kimi. Ultra-short first stint, second pit stop was waaaaaaay too early. Massa's car, on the other hand, was just not good enough on tire wear... even though it had the pace to stay in the hunt in the middle stint.

[fourtheboys96]

And his position were taken over near the end of the race because his tire can no longer hold their grip.

Bad strategy.

if vettel made 3 stops he would have been down in the order

[CVT]

Malas ni MS...

[CoDer]

Malas ni MS...

Malas nga eh. Idiot tire guy 5,000 penalty were slapped on the team as a result.

[KERSMcRae]

Malas nga eh. Idiot tire guy 5,000 penalty were slapped on the team as a result.

Ironically, Brawn made credits to Rosberg's win because of their tyres.

Brawn says tyres were key to victory - Yahoo! Eurosport

Ross Brawn believes that his team getting its tyres into the 'sweet spot' of performance was key to Nico Rosberg delivering his maiden victory for Mercedes in China.

With the Brackley-based outfit having headed to Shanghai aware that it needed to work on solving the tyre problems that had blighted its performances in the first two races, Rosberg was dominant in Sunday's event.

And Brawn believes that rather than the result showing the relative performance of the cars, he thinks it was all about tyres.

"I think with these tyres if you get it right on the day then you can do what we did today," explained Brawn. "You can see what is very strong opposition perhaps not quite hitting the sweet spot, and having what happened today.

"We managed to get it to work and others didn't, and that will be the characteristic of this year. I think the teams will all get better in using tyres and, as they get better, the occasions when you don't get it right will be fewer.

"But today we got the tyres right, we got the set-up right and we saw the results."

After Mercedes overheated its tyres in Australia and did not get them warm enough in Malaysia, Brawn said that he was actually fearful of the temperatures dropping in China.

"We didn't want it to get too cold funnily enough, because when it gets cold the rubber can start to grain, and you can struggle and fall out of window.

"We were anticipating it being a bit warmer, and we set the car up for that. But the tyres worked perfectly and James [Vowles], our strategy guy, called the race absolutely perfectly in terms of it being two stop. The tyres were just starting to ease off as we came in the pits and that side worked out very well."

Brawn also said that he was not too fearful of Jenson Button threatening Rosberg for victory if the McLaren's last stop had not been delayed.

"We were keeping a pretty close eye on him, and obviously it was a big relief that they had a slow stop and fell into that pack, because obviously they should have come out in front of it.

"It would have been much more of a race though. I haven't really spoken to Nico, but I have a feeling that he had a bit in reserve."

and despite the 5K penalty, the race stewards are looking into the swift action of the driver (Shumi) after he noticed the problem, pulled over to avoid accident.

Mercedes fined for Schumacher pitstop - Yahoo! Eurosport

Chinese Grand Prix winner Mercedes has been fined by the race stewards for the incident involving Michael Schumacher during his pitstop.

The German was forced to retire from the race after his mechanics failed to secure the front right tyre properly during his first and only stop.

Schumacher's incident was under investigation and the FIA imposed a fine of 5,000 euro to the team after the race for the unsafe release of the German's car.

"The prompt action of the driver, in stopping the car as soon as the problem was noticed, is taken into account in the penalty determination," said the stewards.
AutoSport

[Ry_Tower]

Sayang schumi!!!! arggghhhh....

[CVT]

Malas nga eh. Idiot tire guy 5,000 penalty were slapped on the team as a result.

Yes,- it could have been 2 podium platforms for the Mercedes GP...

15.4K:cosmo:

[CVT]

Nak ng...

May penalty nga pala...

[Monseratto]

Nice pics!

[CoDer]

Congrats to Vettel, only took him one podium to lead the championship. More tweaking on RB cars before the next race.

Galing ng lotus.

[CVT]

Congrats to Vettel, only took him one podium to lead the championship. More tweaking on RB cars before the next race.

Galing ng lotus.

Ganyan ka-rambol ang labanan ngayon sa Championship.... Four races, four winners...

15.4K:cosmo:

[CVT]

Mayroon ba ritong manunood ng F1 race sa Singapore this September(?)?....

Parang masarap manuod,- + may concert pa ng Maroon5...

15.4K:cosmo:

[niky]

How I wish.

Race recap: A bit late:

After a surprising and blisteringly quick qualifying, thanks to a last minute switch to the "prime" exhaust configuration that Mark Webber has been using since China, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel got off to a great start in the Bahrain GP, building up a considerable lead over the first several laps.. McLaren's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, starting on the dirty side, got poor traction off the line, and couldn't mount an adequate challenge. Ferrari's Felipe Massa moved up the order and Fernando Alonso got an even more heroic start up the outside, jumping straight to the front end of the pack on the first corner.

After a heady charge off the start line, the Ferraris started to suffer heavy tire degradation. Alonso had a scrappy race for seventh, and Massa managed to find extra pace on fresh rubber near the end to wind up 9th.

The McLarens destroyed their rear tires on the first stint of the race and did early stops. They never recovered. Button pitted very early, while Hamilton fell to the Lotuses on-track. Lewis then suffered from a stuck nut. Twice. I hear twisted nuts are quite painful, but at least Lewis wasn't singing soprano in post race interviews. He did sound very cross. He ended up 8th behind Alonso after battling his way heroically up through the field after each botched pit-stop. Button had it worse. He was in fifth when he got a puncture, and then his differential and engine gave up the ghost... on the next-to-last lap.

The Mercedes GP team never looked in contention. Rosberg got a poor start, then he proceeded to push anyone off the track who threatened to overtake him. He ended up fifth, but more importantly, he got himself crossed off of Lewis' and Alonso's Christmas lists. Schumacher cruised past the line in 10th.

The Lotus-Renaults of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, despite troubles during qualifying, turned out to be full-on Snarks, not just Boojums, and they proceeded to cut up the field like they were a bunch of moving pinatas. Raikkonen, in particular, got up to third from eleventh within several laps.

By mid-race, it became apparent that Kimi was going to catch Vettel. Sebastian caught a lucky break as the Lotus drivers tripped over each other, and Kimi was forced to go the long way around Grosjean after being held up for two laps. Grosjean was quick in the first two stints, but couldn't keep pace with the Iceman and the Finger after the halfway point. Kimi finally got his chance to overtake Vettel under braking in Turn One, right before the last set of pits, but Vettel defended him well. Kimi later suggested that maybe next time, Vettel will defend on the wrong side, and he would win.

Vettel, on the other hand, raised two fingers on the podium. Over Kimi's head during the podium photo ops.

There's not much else to report, as Bahrain was a boring race. There was a lot of boring overtaking. A lot more boring overtaking. There was Mark Webber driving heroically... all alone... in fourth place.There was Force India's Paul Di Resta doing a heroic two-stopper to come sixth, at one point overtaking two cars in one corner, both on fresher tires, in a perfectly timed strategic move. Rosberg, Massa and Alonso all stopped on track at the end of the race for various reasons... low fuel, broken exhausts and perhaps broken hearts. Williams didn't even get the chance, retiring both cars long before the finish. Sebastian Vettel likewise stopped on the track, and had to sprint to the podium from the finish line. Says he found extra KERS, just making it in time to accept his trophy.

After this, it's three weeks to Barcelona. Red Bull is looking strong now, as the last round of exhaust upgrades have brought them back to the front of the pack. McLaren won't be happy with being the third fastest car in the race. They'll be even less happy with the reliability issues they've been suffering, and having that left-rear wheel nut seize three times already this season means that they'll be looking at the design long and hard over the break. Lotus Renault did some fantastic with this weekend's car, despite lacking the resources of teams like McLaren and Red Bull. The big question will be if they can maintain momentum in Spain, where all the other teams will bring big updates for the cars.

Four races. Four different drivers from four different teams on the top step of the podium. This is shaping up to be a fantastic season.

[Ry_Tower]

Mayroon ba ritong manunood ng F1 race sa Singapore this September(?)?....

Parang masarap manuod,- + may concert pa ng Maroon5...

15.4K:cosmo:

Uy, that is tempting!

[Retz]

Mugello line-up




http://planetf1.com/driver/18227/771...ugello-line-up

[Retz]

May 1, 2012 - 18th death anniversary of Ayrton Senna and Roland Retzenberger.

[CVT]

Reminder bros...

It's another race weekend,- in Barcelona, this time...

15.6K:weathermanf2:

[Retz]

Alonso rubbishes talk of giving up



Fernando Alonso has rubbished suggestions Ferrari could write-off their season if their highly-anticipated Spanish updates fail to boost them up the grid.

Ferrari arrived in Barcelona for this weekend's Spanish GP with an updated F2012.

Some of the upgrades, including the revised exhaust exits and rear bodywork, were run during the Mugello test last week with everyone at Ferrari adamant they are a step forward.

There are also other upgrades that will be introduced in Friday's practice as Ferrari look to turn their fortunes around.

However, should the team fail to do that in Spain, Alonso has ruled out abandoning the season.

"I don't think so," Alonso said. "We need to see.

more.....
Alonso rubbishes talk of giving up | Planet F1 | Formula One News

[Monseratto]

First free practice results - 2012 Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps

1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:24.430 20
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:24.808 18
3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:24.912 28
4. Jenson Button McLaren 01:24.996 24
5. Valtteri Bottas Williams 01:25.120 24
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 01:25.187 15
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus 01:25.217 16
8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:25.252 20
9. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 01:25.285 29
10. Nico Hülkenberg Force India 01:25.339 24
11. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 01:25.367 22
12. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:25.433 21
13. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:25.539 23
14. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:25.607 20
15. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:25.918 19
16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 01:26.226 24
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:26.297 18
18. Jules Bianchi Force India 01:26.630 21
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham 01:27.475 20
20. Timo Glock Marussia 01:28.267 21
21. Alexander Rossi Caterham 01:28.448 25
22. Charles Pic Marussia 01:28.633 22
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT 01:29.107 19
24. Dani Clos HRT 01:31.618 19