Formula One 2012

[wolverine]

I bet he will be feeling sentimental this morning when he starts from the back of the grid due to underfueling the car.

Maldonado starting from the front of the grid.

[Whiplash]

Lotus look good on the long distance running but if the tire degradation becomes and Issue the Saubers seem to have an answer for tire economy

Hopefully Sauber can give me a reason to wear my Sauber Jacket to work again tomorrow!!

Or Kimmi can come through with the goods, I'm sure I can get my Black and Gold Lotus hat to fit in with corporate wear

[tweety bird]

anyone else see the topless girls on the beach?

[Whiplash]

anyone else see the topless girls on the beach?

I will in 4 months time

[Whiplash]

Don't see Pastor being a threat, teammate was nowhere, and thats usually a good indicator of where his real pace is

Not really look at Ferrari..

Was wondering about the comment from Sky about the Ferrari Pace and how Alonso managed to "hook a lap in" but alonso is doing it consistently where as felipe is just no where. If Ferrari want to be series contenders they need to get rid of felipe ASAP as 17th isn't good enough, and given the speed of everyone in qualifying the cars in front deserve to be there, I have a feeling another tough day in the office for him.

and who would have thought a williams and ferrari front row!!

[hrd-hr30]

tyre deg will definitely be an issue. this was a 4 stop race last year with terrible degredation. This year the Pirellis are softer yet slower, with more deg. It has the potential for a full-on farce in the final 10 laps.

Pastor won the Pirelli lottery, jagging the "sweet spot" setup for qualy. That's all. This season is not about your car's aero, chassis, or engine because the limits of the tyres are so far under the cars' potential. Any car can win or qualify well if they happen to jag a setup that gets the Pirelli in its sweet spot on the day. It is 100% about the tyres.

Look forward to an "exciting" race of people too scared to drive fast for fear of having to 5 stop. Welcome to the Pirelli tyre mileage cup. May the slowest, most caustious driver win.

Edited May 12, 2012 by hrd-hr30

[tweety bird]

Hamilton loses Spanish GP pole position

Pastor Maldonado will start from pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton was excluded from qualifying for not returning to the pits after setting his best lap.

Hamilton's McLaren was found to not have had enough fuel on board to comply with the rules that demand a car returns to the pits under its own power after qualifying with enough petrol for a one-litre sample to be provided to the FIA.

Only under circumstances of 'force majeure' are drivers allowed to stop on that slowing down lap - and stopping deliberately because there is not enough fuel to finish the tour and supply that sample is not acceptable.

Following a meeting with the stewards at the Spanish Grand Prix, McLaren was informed that the 'technical' problem that it suggested was the reason for Hamilton being told to stop was not enough grounds to justify its action.

The team explained that not enough fuel had been put into the car ahead of the final qualifying lap - which the FIA did not agree was enough reason for 'force majeure'

As a result, the stewards ruled that Hamilton be excluded from qualifying, but would be allowed to start from the back of the grid.

"The stewards received a report from the Race Director which stated that during post-qualifying scrutineering a sample of fuel was required from car 4, 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," said the stewards in a statement.

"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."

The result means that Maldonado will start ahead of Fernando Alonso for Sunday's race.

Speaking before being informed of the penalty, Hamilton reckoned that in the event of a penalty he could still deliver good race pace.

"Looking at our long runs, I think our long runs were not too bad," he said. "The option tyre was not spectacular with the set-up we had, but we have made some changes so it should be better in that sense.

"The long run on the prime was very good, but then again so was it with the guys just behind me. Overtaking here is very, very tough as it has showed in previous years, but we do have DRS.

"I would hope we can overtake but I would doubt it – but I would do everything I could to move forwards.

"Definitely the guy in front, the top two or three, generally have an easier job because they have a lot clearer air. But we will give it our all and we hope with improved pit stops as well we hope we can make steps forward."

Revised Spanish GP grid:

1. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault

2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari

3. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault

4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault

5. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari

6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes

7. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes

9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari

10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes

11. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes

13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes

14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari

15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari

16. Felipe Massa Ferrari

17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault

18. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault

19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault

20. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth

21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth

22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth

23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth

24. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99564

lolololololololololololololololololololololololol.

[tweety bird]

McLaren now focused on points after Lewis Hamilton loses Spanish GP pole

McLaren says its focus now is on scoring as many points as possible in the Spanish Grand Prix, after accepting the stewards' decision to demote Lewis Hamilton to the back of the grid.

Hamilton was stripped of his pole position after the FIA ruled that he had breached the rules in not returning to the pits after completing his qualifying lap.

The stewards who discussed the matter did not accept that a team error, which meant not enough fuel went in to Hamilton's car prior to his final run in Q3, was grounds for force majeure.

When asked by AUTOSPORT for a reaction to the stewards' decision, a McLaren spokesman said: "We accept that the stewards did not agree with our interpretation of force majeure. Our aim is now to maximise the points we can score tomorrow."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99565

[hrd-hr30]

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/05/drivers-split-over-the-schumacher-inspired-debate-on-what-kind-of-race-f1-should-be/

Webber agrees with his rival (Schumacher),”Always drivers want to push to the limit, it’s in our DNA, ” said Webber. “THe last couple of years it’s changed. There’s a large element of pacing going on and that’s a new trade for us, at this level. Sometimes it can be a bit frustrating, the engineers can get frustrated with how powerful the tyre can be. We can have phenomenal tyres but the racing might not be as exciting. So depends who wants to do what for the sport.”

Vettel said this afternoon, “We get a completely different inside the car from what you see outside the car. You have to look after your tyres more than three years ago. Take 2009, we were allowed to refuel, we had new tyres and they lasted longer with not much degradation, it’s a different quality inside the car because you can push every lap. Now we fuel the cars up, the cars are much heavier, it puts a different stress on the tyres. There’s more overtaking, which I imagine is seen as a better quality from the outside, because things happen.”

Sergio Perez “You have to manage your tyres in the first lap to have a more consistent pace and then after that you can push..." As for this prospects for this weekend’s race in Barcelona he said, “It’s going to be a dramatic race for the tyres. I expect high degradation, but it’s the same for everybody. It’s not easy, you have to adapt all the time to different condition. Yes you want to go flat out but you have to take care of the tyres.”

Romain Grosjean: “I think you know what the deg is before the race and then you have to play with it and adapt yourself. For sure you cannot run at 100% for all of the race and it’s part of the game. The driver has a big influence on the tyre. It’s a lot of work with the engineers to save the tyres and see how you improve yourself and if you can make a difference at the end of the race, then good.”

[Roy]

I was watching quali at a friends and I blew up when Hamo stopped. I was yelling at the tc "Canado 2010 farktards! " and knew he wasnt going to hold his pole as Whiting warned all drivers that if happens again your time will be excluded! I was so annyed that these commentators who are meant to live and breath F1 and be the experts had forgotten about McLarens squalor in the past.

Hamo must be massively pissed with his team right now...bungled pit stops and now fuelling issue. Hope Lotus bag a win this weekend....as RBR and McLaren are obviously tripping over thier d1cks a little this weekend

[hrd-hr30]

watching how many teams/drivers struggled with understeer of fail inthe long right handers, I can't see how anybody can say these tyres are good for F1. If my shitbox handled like that at a track day I'd pack up and go home until I got some tyres that actually work

If that's good for F1, WTAC should make Everyone run on Wanli's for the good of the sport. It would make it closer and "more exciting" and "just better".

[ctjet]

lol kids got no luck

[warps]

Harry

You don't like the tyres

We get it.

Move on. If it bothers you so much, don't watch it.

[hrd-hr30]

If you don't like hearing about crap tyres, better watch the telecast without sound mate, and not read any of the post race stuff either. It will all be about managing tyres.

[dezz]

Here's hoping for one of Alonso's trademark starts!

[warps]

Don't get me wrong, Harry. I agree that the tyres are crap. I have no illusions about that. It just seems that you've mounted this crusade about the tyres ever since reading the article you posted a few.... errr ... posts ago (how many consecutive posts have you made about the tyres now?). You've made your point. We've heard and acknowledged it. Let's move on. you don't need to keep reminding us. Some of us aren't brain dead reality TV show watchers, y'know.

Edited May 13, 2012 by warps

[sh@un]

If Ferrari want to be series contenders they need to get rid of felipe ASAP

He's been a millstone around their neck for quite some time now

[hrd-hr30]

Don't get me wrong, Harry. I agree that the tyres are crap. I have no illusions about that. It just seems that you've mounted this crusade about the tyres ever since reading the article you posted a few.... errr ... posts ago (how many consecutive posts have you made about the tyres now?).

have you seen the F1 sites lately? if we're not allowed to talk about tyres, its going to be pretty quiet in here, or just full of posts like "did you see those titties?"... I mean just how much can you talk about Lewis's penalty? Everyone knows Massa's a hack these days, but that's still being talked about.

But I count 8 posts in 5 days about tyres from me. That's hardly spamming the place to death, is it? The initial article plus 4 in direct response to others also talking about the same subject, 2 articles quoting drivers, and one short whinge about having to watch Formula 1 cars, which are supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport on the planet, understeering worse than I'd stand for in my own cheap shitbox track hack. Sorry! (I'm not counting these responses to you, which aren't really me whinging about tyres)

So, how about that weather...

Edited May 13, 2012 by hrd-hr30

[ctjet]

Looks like the best chance so far this season for Lotus to finally get back on the winners list after a few years away

The stewards also did an excellent job to make sure the home crowd favorite has the best chance for a spot on the top step

Not expecting too much action with these tyres, so hopefully Vettel stays buried and we get a half interesting championship this year

[Roy]

I have my Lotus jacket on, have my 10% 1L cans of beer from Amsterdam....ready for Kimi or Romain to get the job done. Dont think Alonso will have the pace...but they guy is a freak and you never know