Formula 1 - 2012

[Rae]

What does one make of seb's podium shenanigans?

[MasterDon]

Yes great race.I'm a bit dissapointed in Ferrari though.The should have been massively competitive this weekend on a track that suited them but they're are worse in qualifying than they were in India.They have supposedly brought a whole butt load of upgrades to Abu Dhabi too,but to no avail.Dominicali keeps blaming the wind tunnel but they should also keep an eye on the effectiveness of their design team.Or maybe they've just developed the F2012 to it's peak and can do no more.Eitherway Fingerboy is looking good for a third title but personally I think no one deserves it more than Fernando this year.

[GTAm]

Too little too late from Ferrari I guess. The only reason they are at this level this season is because of Fernando's talent. The wind tunnel story is old now. I think it was known last year too? They've been using Toyota's wind tunnel.

Ferrari mechanics were said to have worked the whole night through on Friday, staying in the pits without going to their hotels. That to me shows how desperate the situation is.

Drive of the day was from Seb. So many things kept putting him back, but he just kept bouncing back and eventually he hit the podium. Superb. But what the heck was wrong with his team-mate? It's almost a given that he'll cock up every start from the front row. And what a ragged drive.

Ice man deserved the win. Happy to see him finally nailing it.

[GTAm]

What does one make of seb's podium shenanigans?

Shocking! DC tried to diffuse it a bit and got Rosewater "champagne" on his head

[miniace]

Reluctantly admit that Vettel drove a super GP and surely the driver of the day. RBR camp got loads of tactics. Vettel maybe a double world champion, but he should know how to respect F1 veterans and use his language infront of millions of live audience. He should know the diffrence between a WWE wrestlers and an F1 driver.

MINIACE

[GTAm]

......Before he smashes another TV........... http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/ferrari-boss-urges-f1-team-to-give-fernando-alonso-a-car-he-can-win-with-for-the-us-gp/story-e6frfkp9-1226511374377

[Pericles]

Who wants one?

[miniace]

https://plus.google....sts/KJQdNL1Hqim

Who wants one?

Thats a nice one...More Kimi- Abu Dhabi inspired merchandise are up for sale now.

http://www.shotdeadinthehead.com/kimi-raikkonen-2-t-shirt-mens.html

MINIACE

[MasterDon]

US GP on in a couple of hours.The track looks good,much better than Indianapolis IMO

As of now Ferrari are considering changing Massa's gearbox to move Alonso on to the rubber'd clean side of the track.The 'dirty' side seems to be very slippery.Grosjean will start 5 places back and MSC will start 5th! Amazing lap by Schumi in that dog of a car.

01. Sebastian Vettel R*D B*LL-Renault 1m35.657

02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.766

03. Mark Webber R*D B*LL-Renault 1m36.174

04. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m36.587

05. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m36.708

06. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m36.794

07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m36.937

08. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m37.141

09. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.300

10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m37.842

11. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m37.604

12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m37.616

13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m37.665

14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.879

15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.206

16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.437

17. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.501

18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.114

19. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m40.056

20. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m40.664

21. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m40.809

22. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m41.166

23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m42.011

24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m42.740

[vishkid]

Well, controversial (but very legal) as the Massa move might hv been, it has proven to be a good deal for both Scud drivers.

COTA proves to be much more interesting than anticipated ... at the moment, one alternator down, waiting for the other to go

[miniace]

Whata wonderful race! Worth staying up. RBR claimed 2012 constructors title.

With one race to go Ferrari is yet to give the best package to Alonso. Im still optimistic and not forgetting my prayers for a Ferrari drivers champ.

MINIACE

[MasterDon]

Awesome!Hope the track surface remains the same for next year.The three or four laps needed to warm up new tyres made things very interesting.Great race by Hamilton once again displaying his raw pace.Vettel needs to grow up a bit,backmarkers are part of the game.Massa was faster than Alonso for the last two or three races.So the car can go faster.Ferrari engineers really need to get their act together and set up the car properly for 'nando.Like it or not Ferrari did what was needed bring home atleast one championship with Massa clearly out of the WDC.Even the squeeky clean imaged Redbull favoured Vettel half way through the season by giving him priority on new updates to the car.

Edited November 18, 2012 by MasterDon

[esdeez]

Its gonna be close, and we may be just one alternator failure away from seeing Alonso clinch the title. I'm sure the Renault engineers will be quite worried now, but seems to hurt poor old Mark the most.

I was quite worried that the USGP was gonna be a snooze fest like Valencia, but it was probably one of the best races we've seen so far! The US fans seemed to love it too, with packed stadiums despite the NASCAR decider being held today too. Looks like F1 is gonna have a long and prosperous return to the US....

P.S,

Those Pirelli Stetsons were brilliant

[GTAm]

Super race. This season has been fantastic.

Just can't understand Alo's slow pace compared with Mas. Maybe the changes to the car are having a negative effect. Vettel should win the title in Brazil provided there are no mechanical failures or accidents involving him. The Ferrari is just too slow.

[miniace]

I know many Ferrari fans are unhappy how the Ferrari F1 camp deliberately gave Massa a grid penalty to move Alonso ahead. It worked alright I guess. Alonso still carry a Ferrari title hope.

MINIACE

[GTAm]

I know many Ferrari fans are unhappy how the Ferrari F1 camp deliberately gave Massa a grid penalty to move Alonso ahead. It worked alright I guess. Alonso still carry a Ferrari title hope.

MINIACE

It's a team. So I think it's justifiable. And besides Mas has not been in the running for the title the whole year.

[Simplelife]

It's a team. So I think it's justifiable. And besides Mas has not been in the running for the title the whole year.

Exactly! its a tactic which well paid off, I was worried when pit crew took some time to change Fernando’s rear wheel, but that didn’t do much damage after all. It will be one exciting race in Brazil this weekend! And only 13 points difference between “the finger” and Fernando. I really hope, Ferrari can pull this off and Fernando can have that thoroughly deserving 2012 title!

On a side note, McLaren will surely miss Hamilton next year!

[The Don]

Super race. This season has been fantastic.

Just can't understand Alo's slow pace compared with Mas. Maybe the changes to the car are having a negative effect. Vettel should win the title in Brazil provided there are no mechanical failures or accidents involving him. The Ferrari is just too slow.

I think the problem with restricted testing means that the so called upgrades sometimes end up as downgrades. You have to admire Alonso, who is an absolute warrior, going into battle with essentially a modified wooden sword to do battle with light sabers and still coming out with very decent results. I wonder how many other drivers have that ability. (Probably Shuey did in his hayday).

And what has happened to Button. He had exactly the same car as Hamilton, good enough to win a Grand Prix, yet the force just isn't with the man at the moment.

McLaren will probably miss Hamilton next year, but I think Hamilton will miss them too.

[GTAm]

I think the problem with restricted testing means that the so called upgrades sometimes end up as downgrades. You have to admire Alonso, who is an absolute warrior, going into battle with essentially a modified wooden sword to do battle with light sabers and still coming out with very decent results. I wonder how many other drivers have that ability. (Probably Shuey did in his hayday).

And what has happened to Button. He had exactly the same car as Hamilton, good enough to win a Grand Prix, yet the force just isn't with the man at the moment.

McLaren will probably miss Hamilton next year, but I think Hamilton will miss them too.

That's exactly what I was thinking Don. The upgrade have become downgrades. Which explains Massa's pace vs Alo's. Oh I am a fan of Alo. In fact I think he's the best package out there and the car is a bloody boat that only does great on a wet track. Here;s hoping for rain in Brazil.

Hamilton is already saying next year will be a "development" year . However with Ross Brawn and Aldo Costa there I won't discount them for very long...........as long as those Merc boffins don't interfere too much.

[The Don]

That's exactly what I was thinking Don. The upgrade have become downgrades. Which explains Massa's pace vs Alo's. Oh I am a fan of Alo. In fact I think he's the best package out there and the car is a bloody boat that only does great on a wet track. Here;s hoping for rain in Brazil.

Hamilton is already saying next year will be a "development" year . However with Ross Brawn and Aldo Costa there I won't discount them for very long...........as long as those Merc boffins don't interfere too much.

Well the problem they had was the constant changes to regulations since they won as Brawn and RedBull and McLaren have just done a better job keeping up. You have to give Ferrari some credit as well because though they don't have the best package, they are more competitive than they were in the last two seasons.

I wonder how long Mercedes will stick with the sport as well though if results are not forthcoming. They with Ferrari are the only real factory backed teams left (perhaps Lotus, but Renault has certainly taken a back seat and I don't know how much involvement Lotus actually has in what is essentially the old Enstone outfit).

In the last couple of years we've lost Honda, Toyota, BMW and Renault ......

[vishkid]

Mercedes hv had the tire performance issue from race one onwards .. however much you tweak the rest, this will always get the drivers down - at least twice in a race.

I'm thinking that it's a major design factor issue with the overall system as their tweaks hv not worked for them. So, I'm guessing the first thing they do in off season is to sort that out.

I'm both happy for and dissapointed in Ferrari - they hv done an above average job, considering that they hv had a struggle to be the third best team yet they are second on points and would likely finish that way. But they hv not managed to use all their money and experience to give a champion car to a deserving driver (or two, if you're a Massa resurgence fan). In this day and time, it's hard to believe that all the money and determination cannot trump the brains of a couple of guys in terms of putting stuff at right places ... and managing a ton of variables

[MasterDon]

More than the tyres Merc's biggest issue is the double DRS system.Even Brawn himself has admitted it.They've struggled to get the other aspects of the car working along with it.I really hope they show up with a good car next year as I'm a huge fan of Ross Brawn.Don't know if Lewis downplaying next years title hopes already is the best approach.He should take a leaf out of Alonso's always positive attitude.The guy just never gives up and that motivates the team and the people at Maranello...

Ref - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/double-drs-was-wrong-turn-for-mercedes-brawn/

[Pericles]

Involves an F1 Driver. Little bit OT, but fun

[vishkid]

Jenson 'endorsing' Fernando, RBR going for new alternator, Lewis's last race for McLaren, likely to be a little rain in Sao Paulo, all building up to a great but tense weekend!

I'll be sporting scuderia red over the next two days, but got a sinking feeling :|

Edited November 23, 2012 by vishkid

[Simplelife]

What a season we had so far, Jenson managed only have 138 points to his tally, after that win in Aussie..Fernando managed to take it down to the wire with a car which really doesn’t deserve to be in this position….and we say good bye to great Shumy for the 2^nd time of his carrier…

Looks like its gonna be a wet weekend Sao Paulo.. its gonna be one thrilling race.

And I hope the car no 5 will have what it takes to hold this year’s title with the driver who really deserves to be the champion!

Edited November 23, 2012 by Simplelife