FORMULA 1 - 2012

[MIKA27]

Christian Horner: Half done, half to go

Christian Horner has hailed his Red Bull team after wrapping up the Constructors' title in Austin but says there's still work to be done.

Sebastian Vettel's second place in the United States GP gave Red Bull an unassailable lead in the teams' race heading into the season finale. It is the Bulls third straight Constructors' title.

"We're half way there," said Horner. "We've closed out one Championship.

"To have won a third consecutive Constructors' is something we could only ever have dreamed about a few years ago. To have achieved what we have in 2010, 2011 and 2012 against the opponents that we have in only our eighth year in the sport is something that's quite remarkable.

"I think that it's testimony to the long hours, the determination, the dedication that there is in the team that we've managed to achieve this. It's something that every member of the team is fiercely proud of."

But while the teams' trophy is in the bag, Red Bull have yet to secure the Drivers' crown as Fernando Alonso's third place on Sunday ensured that the title race would go down to the wire.

Vettel, though, does have the advantage with a 13 point lead over the Ferrari driver with 25 points to play for.

"We now head to Brazil with a 13-point lead, and still everything to play for. I've said all season I think this Championship will go to Brazil. Unfortunately I've been proved right!

"We've just got to approach the next race as we have the previous 19. We've got to go there, attack the weekend, get the best out of ourselves, the car, the strategy, the drivers, reliability.

"Anything can happen as we've seen this season. It's good to be going there with a lead, and we'll just be going there determined to try and close the job off."

[MIKA27]

Andretti: Important that Schumacher enjoyed return

American racing legend Mario Andretti says that Michael Schumacher’s three-year return to Formula One was a success because he enjoyed it.

“He never lost the love and joy of racing,” Andretti, who won his F1 title in 1978, said at the US Grand Prix on Sunday.

“That’s the thing I most admire,” added the 72-year-old, who at the brand new Circuit of the Americas interviewed three champions on the podium, in the form of victor Lewis Hamilton, second placed Sebastian Vettel and third placed Fernando Alonso.

A long way down the results sheet, in an abysmal sixteenth place, was seven time world champion Schumacher, whose failed comeback with Mercedes will finally end in Brazil next weekend.

“Of course his comeback was not a great success,” Andretti is quoted by SID news agency, “but the important thing is that he enjoyed it.

“And if he does retire for good, we will miss him. He’s still the best of all time,” he added.

As for the 2012 title head-to-head between Vettel and Alonso, Andretti admitted that he probably admires the achievements of Ferrari’s Spaniard a little more.

“Alonso has no weaknesses,” the Italian-born former Ferrari driver is quoted by El Pais, a Spanish newspaper.

“His car was always outpaced but he has taken full advantage of every opportunity.

“Vettel’s talent is unquestioned, but clearly he has the best car. Fernando deserves the title more because he has had the most personal influence on the results.

“Early on, Vettel was not happy with his car; he only began to dominate in the last third of the championship, when Red Bull found a way to improve the RB8.

“Now, Webber is also very fast, when both drivers in a team are ahead it means the car is very competitive.

“Fernando thinks he deserves it more because he is at a disadvantage compared to Vettel, and I agree with him,” added Andretti.

Fellow F1 legend Niki Lauda, however, warned the sport to brace for more and more Vettel success.

“It’s not only that Seb can break all of Michael’s records – he will break them!” he told Bild newspaper.

“Red Bull can give him the best car again and again.”

[MIKA27]

Drivers and teams for 2013 almost finalised

Formula One’s grid for 2013 has almost been finalised, with the vacancy at Force India now the most sought after driving job in the paddock.

On paper, only Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Toro Rosso have finalised and announced their race drivers for next season.

But Williams is hotly tipped to pair Pastor Maldonado with Valtteri Bottas, while Sauber might partner Esteban Gutierrez with new arrival Nico Hulkenberg.

Moreover, Timo Glock is expected to be joined at Marussia by Max Chilton, and Caterham is likely to field Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde.

Lotus is ready to keep Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, and has even confirmed the latter appointment, but Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that there is some uncertainty over Raikkonen’s salary.

Journalist Michael Schmidt said that the Finn has been “more expensive” than Lotus expected, having initially agreed to pay him a lucrative bonus for each point scored.

So far, the 33-year-old has a whopping 206 points on the board.

Even so, the most open 2012 vacancy is really at Force India, whose Paul di Resta will certainly stay put for next season.

His teammate, according to AM&S, will be selected from a long shortlist of more than a dozen suitors.

The report said that names including Jules Bianchi, Heikki Kovalainen, Bruno Senna, Davide Valsecchi, Luiz Razia, Johnny Cecotto jr and Rodolfo Gonzalez were all on the list.

Even Rubens Barrichello – who was in Austin at the weekend – and 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve expressed interest, Schmidt reported.

After a meeting in Mumbai last week, however, Vijay Mallya-led Force India reportedly narrowed the list to a much shorter shortlist, having ruled out the veterans as well as the ‘pay drivers’.

AM&S said that 2011 Toro Rosso teammates Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, and former Force India racer Adrian Sutil, now have the best chances of all.

Force India is tipped to make an announcement in Brazil.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull boss defends Vettel after Villeneuve criticism

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has defended Sebastian Vettel, after Jacques Villeneuve slammed the reigning world champion for often behaving like a child.

When comparing Vettel with his 2012 title rival Fernando Alonso, 1997 world champion Villeneuve last week admitted that he was rooting for the Spaniard because he is cooler under fire.

When asked about the outspoken Villeneuve’s likening of Vettel to “a child” when under pressure, Red Bull team boss Horner responded: “Honestly, I don’t understand why Jacques said that.”

The interviewer for Die Welt newspaper explained to Horner that Villeneuve was probably referring to Vettel calling Narain Karthikeyan an “idiot” this year, or when he threw his gloves down after a car failure.

“Sebastian is an emotional person,” Horner insisted, “and he wears his heart on his sleeve.”

“It’s normal that in such stressful situations, your feelings can sometimes …show… He wouldn’t be human if he didn’t.”

Vettel’s critics, however, say his meteoric success has said more about the German’s equipment over the past years, often driving away with a clear road after dominating during qualifying.

Indeed, Villeneuve said Vettel’s mistakes as he climbed through the field from the back of the field in Abu Dhabi recently proved the point.

Horner countered: “I think he proved to the doubters [in Abu Dhabi] that he is a great racer. Sebastian did one of the best races I’ve ever seen.”

And he warned that Vettel, on the cusp of his third consecutive title, 100th grand prix and aged just 25, is only getting better.

“Fernando is 31 years old and has probably reached his peak as an athlete. Sebastian, however, is far from it.

“He is still trying to develop as a driver and as a person,” said Horner.

[MIKA27]

Daimler takes full control of Mercedes Formula 1 team

German luxury carmaker Daimler has taken full control of the Mercedes Formula One motor racing team after buying a 40 percent stake owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Aabar Investments.

Involvement in Formula One gives a car brand like Mercedes access to a huge global TV audience following the 20-race series and allows it to use the drivers to help promote sales of road cars.

The sale of the Formula One stake is a logical step for Aabar which has been cutting its ties with Daimler. Aabar’s disposal in October was triggered by a failed derivatives deal underpinning the investment firm’s purchase of the shares, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Last month it sold its remaining 3 percent stake in the company which produces Mercedes cars.

Regulatory approval is still required for the sale of the stake in the F1 team and financial terms were not disclosed.

Daimler and Aabar teamed up in motor racing in late 2009 when they bought out F1′s then world champion, Brawn GP, and relaunched it the following season under the Mercedes name.

Mercedes is fifth in the 12-team Formula One standings, with just one race to go this season.

The team has signed a commercial agreement to compete in the sport until 2020. It hopes to perform better next season after hiring former world champion Lewis Hamilton on a three-year-deal worth a reported 45 million pounds ($71.3 million).

Hamilton, who won the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday, is one of the sport’s most marketable figures who is seen as helping to add a dash of glamour to the Mercedes brand.

Parent company Daimler warned last month that it would miss its earnings forecast this year by about 1 billion euros ($1.27 billion), hit by the slump in the western European car market.

The Mercedes team had an annual budget of around 125 million pounds last year, which was covered by a mixture of sponsorship, commercial revenues and its own cash reserves, rather than requiring big additional spending from Daimler and Aabar.

Before rejoining F1 in 2010, Mercedes had last run their own Formula One team in 1955, when Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio drove for them and won the third of his five titles.

The carmaker pulled out of the sport that year after one of their cars crashed at the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race, killing more than 80 spectators in motor racing’s biggest disaster.

Mercedes also supplies engines to the McLaren and Force India Formula One teams.

[MIKA27]

ANTHONY HAMILTON ON LEWIS "NEEDING TO HAVE HIS OWN SPACE", AS BUTTON QUESTIONS MERCEDES MOVE:

Anthony Hamilton (Lewis' father), has given a revealing insight into how his relationship with his son has evolved over the last couple of years and why the move to Mercedes is another example of him flying the nest.

Hamilton Snr’s presence in McLaren’s post-race celebrations of Hamilton’s brilliant victory in Austin pointed towards father and son having firmly been reconciled this year after a period in which their relationship, publicly at least, has appeared more distant.

The pair had been famously more akin to a double act as Lewis came through the motorsport ranks and into his record-breaking early years of F1. However, that started to change in early 2010 when the McLaren driver decided to stop having his career managed by his father before eventually appointing XIX to look after his affairs.

Appearing on the BBC Radio 5 Live Chequered Flag Podcast (click here to listen) amid McLaren’s celebrations of his son’s victory on Sunday, Anthony acknowledged that Lewis had felt a desire to “have his own space”, implying that the 27-year-old had belatedly experienced his teenage “tantrum years”.

“To be honest it hasn’t been so much (me) not being part of the set-up, it’s been Lewis having his own space, us having our own space, and Lewis is now going to have his own space next year. It’s what kids do isn’t it?” Hamilton Snr said.

“The unfortunate thing for young racing drivers is that they don’t have the opportunity to go through the tantrum years. I’ve been fortunate – actually maybe I’ve been unfortunate, I’m not so sure! – none of my kids went through the terrible teens. When you’re a racing driver, or a kart racer or a single-seater racer you don’t have time to go off the rails, you’ve got to stay on the rails.

“So it’s been interesting. But the family are great as we always have been and we have all found our feet in life if you want.”

The comments from Hamilton – who described Sunday as “Lewis’s greatest ever race” – regarding the Mercedes move come at a time when fresh questions over its logic are being raised given the Brackley team’s current travails.

While Hamilton was beating Sebastian Vettel to his fourth win of the season on Sunday, his new employer was faring far worse with Michael Schumacher enduring what he bluntly described as a “disaster” as he slipped from fifth on the grid to 16th at the chequered flag having had to make two pit stops due to high rear tyre wear.

Ironically, since Hamilton’s move 2013 to the team was announced in the week before the Japanese GP Mercedes has failed to score a single point in five races.

Perhaps with that statistic in mind, his current team-mate, Jenson Button, continues to assert that Hamilton is making an error in leaving McLaren.

Asked in the same podcast if Hamilton’s victory had been good for the team as a whole, Button replied: “Especially for him. He’s leaving us – I still think it’s the wrong decision, but it’s his own.”

He added: “It’s always great having a very quick team-mate like Lewis. He pushes you hard and we’ve had some good battles over the last three years. But things change, you move on, and I’m excited about working with Checo.”

[MIKA27]

WHY THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX TURNED OUT AS IT DID ON "UNIQUE" AUSTIN CIRCUIT:

Pre-Race Expectations

Before the race started, teams were certain that this would be a one-stop race. The Pirelli tyre choice of Medium and hard was quite conservative and there were no signs of the extreme degradation that had been such a feature of the first half of the season.

Degradation was 0.02 sec per lap for the medium and 0.01 sec per lap for the Hard.

Pirelli had been influenced by the high temperatures in the November 18 week last year and for most of this year the temperatures have been 5 degrees warmer than seasonal average. So everyone expected it to be hotter than it was.

So the tyres would take time to warm up in the cool ambient conditions. But drivers were able to push to the limits for all 56 laps without needing to nurse the tyres.

This had a knock on effect on strategy for qualifying as drivers found themselves doing a five lap run in order to get the tyres to their perfect condition for a quick lap.

However Austin proved to be a unique circuit on the current F1 calendar, by far the most difficult to align the temperatures of the front and rear tyres. Even with all the knowledge the teams had developed over the season, they were all scratching their heads about getting the tyre temperatures balanced front to rear.

On the first day of practice in Austin the grip level had been very low, due to the recently laid tarmac having a sheen of bitumen on the surface. This began to be ripped away, revealing the grippy stones underneath, but only on the racing line. As the weekend wore on and more rubber went down the grip level came up, giving a 10% improvement compared to Friday.

The biggest concern was what this would mean at the start, with the dirty side of the grid estimated to be one second slower reaching Turn 1 than the clean side. There were estimates of two positions lost at the start for cars on the dirty side. As a result, Ferrari opted to deliberately penalise Felipe Massa, starting 6th on the grid, by giving him a five-place gearbox penalty, which allowed team mate Alonso, who had underperformed in qualifying, to start 7th on the clean side of the track. It was a strategic decision and it worked very effectively, as Alonso made up three places at the start, giving him the platform for a podium finish, despite the poor qualifying pace of the Ferrari.

All the front running teams identified backmarkers as a potential problem in the Esses before the long straight – lose time through there and you would be vulnerable to a DRS overtake on the straight.

The duel for the win

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel fought a great duel for the victory in Austin and there were fine differences between the two cars’ performance on the tyres. The Red Bull was able to bring the tyres in more quickly and as a consequence Vettel did six laps on his tyres of which only two were at pace down laps. However Hamilton did seven, with three hard laps.

Although they lost the battle for pole position, on race day the McLaren had a slight pace advantage over the Red Bull. Both cars were strong on the medium tyre, Hamilton able to bridge a 2.5 second gap once he got clear of Mark Webber to close up to Vettel.

But then his slightly older tyres reached the point where the performance dropped off. He lost almost two seconds in the three laps before his stop on lap 20. When he exited the pits he was behind Raikkonen and spent four laps behind the Lotus.

Vettel pitted a lap later, to cover Hamilton and re-emerged in the lead. However it soon became clear that the pattern we have seen recently of the McLaren being stronger on the harder prime tyre was being born out again. Hamilton was primed to strike as they reached half distance in the race. Although the McLaren had a pace advantage, Hamilton was not able to get close enough to Vettel in the DRS detection zone at Turn 11 to challenge using the DRS on the straight. On lap 42 he took advantage of Vettel encountering the back-marker HRT of Narain Karthikeyan in the Esses to close up and make his move on the straight.

Because of Red Bull’s tactic of setting the car up for down force, rather than straight-line speed, the McLaren had an 11km/h speed advantage over the Red Bull for this race and with the extra 10km/h from the DRS effect, Hamilton was able to pass. Although Vettel came back at him, the straight-line speed deficit meant that he couldn’t get close enough.

Button makes a counter strategy work

Jenson Button was forced to start the race from 12th place on the grid after a throttle failure in qualifying. This gave him the right to choose what tyre to start on and to use new tyres. Many team strategists felt that starting on the hard would not be competitive but Button was able to use the pace advantage of the McLaren to good effect. The strategy was to run a longer first stint and use the more sustained performance of the hard tyre to gain track position when the cars ahead made their stops after lap 20.

He lost around six seconds sitting in a train behind Di Resta, Perez and Senna in the run up to their stops, but once clear of them he had very good pace on the hard tyre and managed to get faster every lap until his stop on lap 35. McLaren were monitoring the gap to Grosjean in the Lotus and when they saw on lap 34 that Grosjean was faster than Button they pitted him, despite the fact that Button’s pace was still improving. This brought him out close to the Frenchman, but he fell behind. He was able to exploit the extra grip on the softer tyres to make overtakes under braking, such as the pass on Grosjean and was quick once he passed the two Lotus cars, but wasn’t going to catch Massa for fourth.

Interestingly Fernando Alonso seemed to struggle getting the hard tyres warmed up and Ferrari technical director Pat Fry admitted after the race that the car had not had the pace of its rivals on that tyre. As this same tyre combination is set to be used again in Sao Paolo, this is a concern for Ferrari, if the race is held in the dry. At the moment the forecast calls for a 60% chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday. However Felipe Massa seemed to have fewer problems on the hard tyre so there will be something to be learned from his data.

TYRE STRATEGIES, Austin

Hamilton: MU HN (20) 1 stop

Vettel: MU HN (21) 1

Alonso: MU HU (20) 1

Massa: MU HU (26) 1

Button: HN MN (35) 1

Räikkönen: MU HU (24) 1

Grosjean: MU HN (9) 1

Hülkenberg: MU HN (17) 1

Maldonado: MU HN (21) 1

Senna: MN HN (20) 1

Perez: MN HN (22) 1

Ricciardo: MN HN (30) 1

Rosberg: HN MN (34) 1

Kobayashi: MN HN (13) 1

Di Resta: MN HN (21) HN (31) 2

Schumacher: MU HN (14) HN (39) 2

Petrov: MN HN (23) 1

Kovalainen: MN HN (21) 1

Glock: MN HN (21) 1

Pic: MN HN (26) 1

De La Rosa: MN HN (24) 1

Karthikeyan: MN HN (25) 1

RACE HISTORY GRAPH, Kindly supplied by Williams F1 Team:

Note the relative pace of Massa and Alonso on the hard tyre in the second stint, note also Button’s pace at the end of the first stint, still improving on the hard tyre after 34 laps.

[MIKA27]

Brazilian Grand Prix: Mercedes previews Interlagos

The final race of the 2012 FIA Formula One season will take place at the historic Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo on Sunday 25 November. The Brazilian Grand Prix will also mark Michael Schumacher’s 308th and final F1 race.

• Six of the last 10 Brazilian Grands Prix have featured safety car interventions.
  
• In spite of a reputation for unsettled weather, only three of the last ten races have been affected by rain
  
• Eight of the last ten Brazilian Grands Prix have been won from the front row, including the past four in a row.
  
• 15 of this season’s 19 races to date have been won from the front row, including 10 from pole.
  

Michael Schumacher:

Interlagos is the right place to round off my career because so much of the fascination of F1 is rooted there. I always enjoy the enthusiasm of the fans, and it’s simply a great circuit which has seen many memorable events and always produces spectacular races as the unique layout guarantees plenty of action. For me, it’s also the circuit that brings back my memories of Ayrton [senna].

My departure from F1 will probably be less emotional for me this time than in 2006, when we were still fighting for the championship and everything was much more intense. This time round, I will be able to pay more attention to my farewell and hopefully savour it too. I have had fantastic years in Formula One and a lot of support from fans around the world, and I wish to particularly thank them for that. Of course, I would be happiest if I could say goodbye with a strong race, and I am sure we will be doing everything we can to make it happen.

Nico Rosberg:

The final race in Brazil should be a great occasion with the world championship going right to the end of the season. Hopefully it will be another great show for the fans after the eventful race in Austin. I hope that we can also have a positive weekend with a good performance to end our season well. However our priority is still to learn as much as possible for next year, and we will be doing further work towards that. The weekend will be a special one for our team as Michael is retiring after three years with us. I wish him all the best for the future and it was a great experience for me to race with and against him.

Ross Brawn:

With the last race of the season in Brazil also bringing Michael’s second and final retirement from F1, it will be an emotional weekend for everyone in the team. We have both greatly enjoyed and benefitted from working with Michael over the past three years, and I would like to pay tribute to his enduring commitment, passion and team spirit. The results that we all hoped for over that period have not come to fruition, however the progress that our team has made has been significant, and I am confident that we will see the rewards in seasons to come. Having worked with Michael for the majority of the 21 seasons of his career, I feel that he is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, F1 drivers of all time, and we wish him the very best with his future plans. Looking to the race weekend, our aim will be to continue our testing programme for next season, particularly with the evaluation of the 2013 tyre sets which Pirelli will be providing for the two practice sessions on Friday. After a difficult few races, we would like to end this season with a positive result, and we will work hard to achieve that, before our focus can finally turn fully to next year.

Norbert Haug:

This weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix will bring a long, hard F1 season to a close. It will also mark the final F1 race of Michael Schumacher’s career and we must thank him both for his committed contribution to the building-up process of our team and also his performances on track. Michael isn’t just the most successful racing driver in the world but also the best known; his ability and character are admired around the globe. We had a competitive car in the first third of this season, as Nico and Michael demonstrated on several occasions. However, we especially needed to catch up in terms of aerodynamics, and to achieve our targets, we made changes in technology and personnel in order to be competitive from the start to the finish of next season. Our goal in Sao Paulo is to bid a respectable farewell to this year. When the 2013 season begins, we want once more to be in the position to score results like those we achieved half a year ago in China and Monaco.

[MIKA27]

Hamilton: Last race in Brazil is going to be a really emotional sendoff

Lewis Hamilton will say an emotional farewell to McLaren in Brazil next weekend as a winner, even if Formula One’s season-ending race is all about someone else taking the title, as the 2008 world champion wants to celebrate one last triumph, fresh from winning in Texas, before heading off to Mercedes.

The Briton had won on Formula One’s last visit to the States in 2007 and picking up where he left off meant a lot to a 27-year-old already spending an increasing amount of time in the country.

Hamilton now heads to Interlagos, where he won his 2008 championship, for one last hurrah for a team he has been a part of since they started backing him as a promising 14-year-old.

“I think the last race in Brazil is going to be a really emotional sendoff for us all, team and driver and family,” his father Anthony said in Austin after joining the race winner for the team victory photograph.

“The Hamiltons are synonymous with McLaren and vice-versa and I think we are all going to miss each other,” he told Sky television. “But to be honest I think it’s nice to go off to greener pastures and see whether you can develop something new in your life.”

On Sunday McLaren gave Hamilton the car and he delivered sensationally, passing Red Bull’s championship leader Sebastian Vettel to take the win and deliver just the boost his team had been looking for.

“We were talking of just getting a win in, that would be the icing on the cake,” said Hamilton, who is out of a title chase that now only involves Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

“Even if we go to the next one and it’s not spectacular, at least we have this one. But of course I’m going to go to the next race hoping we can do it again.”

The victory was Hamilton’s fourth of the season and he could have also won in Singapore and Abu Dhabi had he not been sidelined by mechanical failures.

The problem in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, when Hamilton was leading confortably, was a hard blow for the team as well as the driver and Sunday, with the rocket red victory shirts bursting out, brought the smiles back.

“It’s been brilliant for the team and we needed it, we really did need that one together,” said team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

“We faltered a little bit this year, we’ve had a quick car and we haven’t done as good a job as we expect of ourselves. These things are really important to the team and we are going to go into Brazil on a high and make sure we can do a good job there,” he added.

Hamilton will soon be turning his focus on Mercedes – a team who looked woefully uncompetitive on Sunday and whose sole success since they took over the title-winning Brawn GP outfit in 2009 came this year.

The driver has recognised that it could be a while before he wins again but his father said there were no regrets.

“It’s nice to have challenges in life,” said the man whose parents immigrated to Britain from the West Indies island of Grenada and who held down several jobs at once to get his karting son onto the motor racing ladder.

“One of our greatest ever challenges was coming from a council house to Formula One. I never ever believed that would happen to us. Then Lewis becomes a Formula One champion and now we are almost rebuilding the challenge.”

[winelover]

I thought the TX GP was awesome. I haven't been able to aee much live F1 this season so it was greatp to see so muxxh overtaking on a fantastically named circuit that I believe will become a classic in due course.

Will be interesting in Brazil. I'd like to see Alonso win it and whilst he's the clear championship underdog you just never know.

Next season will be interesting with McLaren having an untested new driver and with Lewis going to Mercedes. I am a McLaren fan, I work in Woking and was boen nearby. Also how much more "second fiddle" sillyness can Massa endure? It is almost as if he is Alonso's gimp. Still I like the variation in constructors cultures that mean Ferrari will employ gamesmanship whilst Red Bull and McLaren take the high ground. It would be boring if all teams played by the same ethics.

Bring on Brazil, I am really looking forward to this. And bring on next seaaon! This year's has been great with so many world champions on the grid and a title race going to the wire.

Cheers Mikka

Graham

[ptrthgr8]

The TX GP was definitely awesome - it was a fun race to watch and the track seemed to have a lot of variation (especially in elevation) so the drivers were really being kept on their toes. Was fun watching all the practice and qualifying sessions, too. It was obvious this was a new track for all the drivers - turn 19 in particular seems to be a tricky one. I really wanted to make the trip south for that inaugural race, but things simply didn't work out. Of course, one of my friends from NoDak did make the trip and now he won't shut up about it. Says it was the greatest weekend ever. I'm sure he's right... but he doesn't need to rub it in like that.

As for the last race, I want to see Vettel win the championship again... because I'm a sucker for a Three-peat.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[LLC]

I thought the US Grand Prix was a huge success and may think about going next year. I don't think it will happen but I'd like to see Alonso win the championship.

[MIKA27]

Hi guys - Great to see you all posting your views and opinions.

I must agree and say that I believe the Austin GP will be a future classic. It can be as huge as Spa IMO due to the way the track is designed, sweeping turns and strategic ways to overtake..

My money and hopes are for Alonso to win. I think that whilst Vettel is deserving, Alonso has really fought hard to get where he is considering his vehicle is nowhere near as good as the Red Bull and or McLaren. A true Formula 1 driver and I hope he wins and Vettel DNF's....

[MIKA27]

NICO ROSBERG & SERGIO AGUERO: FUNNY VIDEO

This is a fun video with Mercedes F1 driver Nico Rosberg showing Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero how much faster a real racing car is than a high performance sportscar.

It’s part of a series by Puma, which brings sports people from different disciplines into contact with F1 and motorsport. It all helps to spread the word about our sport.

What works well here is that Aguero is very cocky when it comes to driving the road car, texting on his phone while Rosberg is trying to show him the lines around a rather damp Donington – to the extent that Rosberg throws his phone out of the window.

But it’s clear when they get into a proper DTM car, that Aguero is blown away by the speed and cornering forces.

It’s worth a watch for the humour.

[MIKA27]

THE CRUCIAL BRAZILIAN FORMULA 1 TITLE DECIDER:

It’s been one of the most exciting seasons of F1 and it looks like it may have one more twist before it’s over.

This weekend the World Drivers’ Championship will be decided at the Brazilian Grand Prix, between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. It seems straightforward for Vettel. He needs only to finish fourth or better regardless of Alonso’s result to win the title. Red Bull is the form team at Interlagos, having won this race for the last three years in a row.

But it looks as though fate may intervene, with rain forecast on Saturday and Sunday. As we have seen in the past at Interlagos, this makes it more of a lottery. If it is dry both days then on paper the Red Bull driver should comfortably achieve his goal, qualifying on the front row and finishing on the podium.

If it happens to rain around 14-00 hrs on qualifying and race day, then anything could happen and Alonso, with nothing to lose, could end up champion. Especially with his record of making things happen for himself.

There is also the question of Red Bull’s reliability, with Mark Webber’s retirement due to yet another alternator failure in Austin causing anxiety for Red Bull bosses. Red Bull is set to use new specification alternators in Brazil, which Renault’s other teams used in Austin last weekend. But it is going to feel like a time bomb until the chequered flag falls.

Here are the championship permutations:

*Any scenario where Vettel is fourth or higher gives Vettel the title.

*A win for Alonso would give him the title if Vettel is fifth or lower

*If Alonso is second, he would be champion if Vettel is 8th or lower

*If Alonso is third with Vettel lower than ninth, Alonso is champion

The Brazilian Grand Prix is a unique race on the F1 calendar, a circuit of unpredictability due to weather, tight run-off areas and a high chance of a safety car. There have been many heart-in-the-mouth finales at this event in the past and it’s a relief when a race goes to plan, especially when a championship is at stake.

The circuit is special for a number of reasons; set in a natural bowl around a lake in a suburb of Sao Paulo, the passionate and noisy crowd can see most of the circuit from their seat. The venue is also at one of the highest altitudes of any F1 circuit at just over 800 metres. This means that the atmospheric pressure is almost 10% less than at sea level and this cuts engine power, downforce and drag by a similar amount.

It is also the shortest lap of the season in terms of lap time, a quick lap there being under 1m 12 seconds, so the qualifying and racing have an intense quality about them. The circuit has a fast downhill sector one and final uphill sector three, with a tight infield sector in the middle.

It is one of six anti-clockwise circuits on the calendar. For years it was the only one, but in recent years Hermann Tilke has had a penchant for anticlockwise tracks and they make up almost 30% of the calendar.

The tyre choice from Pirelli is surprising once again, in that they have opted for medium and hard compounds, whereas last season they came with soft and medium. On the face of it, this is another conservative choice from Pirelli, a trend we have seen for the last six races. However the simulations show that there is doubt whether the fastest way to do this race is one or two stops, as we shall explain.

Track characteristics

Interlagos – 4.309 kilometres.

Race distance – 71 laps = 305.909 kilometres. 15 corners in total.

Average speed 210km/h. A classic circuit set in a natural bowl, in a suburb of Sao Paulo.

Aerodynamic setup – Med/High downforce.

Top speed 323km/h (with DRS open) 311km/h without.

Full throttle – 60% of the lap time (ave/high).

Total fuel needed for race distance – 144 kilos (ave/low).

Fuel consumption – 2.10 kg per lap (low)

Brake wear- light.

Number of braking events – 6,

Time spent braking – 16% of the lap.

Loss time for a Pit stop = 15.5 seconds

Total time needed for a pit stop: 20 seconds

Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried): 0.27 seconds (ave)

Form Guide

The Brazilian Grand Prix is the final round of 20 in the 2012 FIA F1 World Championship.

Last year’s race was dominated by Red Bull, but Ferrari and McLaren both have a strong record on this circuit. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has been the form driver in the final part of the season, winning a string of races and enjoying an average of 0.5s margin over his title rival Fernando Alonso in qualifying since the Singapore Grand Prix.

Mark Webber won last year, Felipe Massa won the race for Ferrari in 2006 and 2008, while Michael Schumacher, making his final F1 appearance this weekend, has won it four times. McLaren hasn’t won there since 2005 and neither Lewis Hamilton nor Jenson Button has ever won there, despite both clinching their world titles at this event by finishing in fifth place in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

This season has featured eight different race winners, one of the most open seasons for a long time.

Weather Forecast

Rain showers are a common occurrence in Sao Paolo at this time of year and many Brazilian Grands Prix have experienced sudden showers over the years. The forecast for the weekend is for temperatures around 25 degrees centigrade but with threats of rain on Saturday and Sunday.

Likely tyre performance and other considerations

Pirelli tyre choice for Brazil: Medium (white markings) and Hard (silver markings). This combination has been seen several times including Austin, Spa, Monza and Sepang

The choice of medium and hard, rather than the soft and medium of last year, is very conservative by Pirelli.

They have gone for this combination due to the high energy loadings through the high speed corners, but the signs are that this will lead to very interesting strategy deliberations. Before a wheel is turned in practice, it looks like there could be a premium on saving a set of the faster medium tyres from qualifying to use in the second stint of a two stop strategy before switching to new hard tyres for a longish final stint (black line in graph below). This is a faster strategy and gives track position in the final stint over a two stop strategy where the second and third stints are on new hard tyres (blue line below)

However a one-stop (blue line) on these very conservative tyres is also comparable to the black line two stopper, it will give track position but the two stopper may have more pace in the closing laps.

The track does not have a particularly abrasive surface and the energy going into the tyres is largely from the series of left hand corners before the final straight. On top of that, the tyres get plenty of rest on the two long straights and a safety car around one third race distance could change the decision making process.

The limiting factor on this track is the rear tyre, with the stop-start traction events in the series of corners in the middle part of the lap and the last corner onto the uphill final straight.

Number and likely timing of pit stops

Last year’s race was won with three stops. The pit lane at Interlagos is quite short and the time needed for a stop is only 15.5 seconds plus the stationary time. However the indications this year are that two stops will be the way to go.

Starting in the top ten, one stop does not look competitive and seems unlikely to work out unless there is a safety car. However it might be worth a gamble for cars starting outside the top ten, as they can start on new medium tyres, rather than used. One stoppers will be greatly helped by a safety car deployment.

Overtaking at Interlagos isn’t too much of a problem, thanks to the long uphill straight leading to the Senna S. And the DRS wing certainly helps.

Chance of a Safety Car

The chances of a Safety Car are high at 63%. The Safety Car has been used in seven of the last ten races. It is often called into action on the first lap, as it’s a short lap with 24 cars charging into tight corners.

This makes the Safety Car an important element to factor into Race Strategy planning. It encourages teams to hedge their bets and split strategies with one car doing a conventional two stop plan and the other on a one stop, which would benefit from a safety car.

This is because a safety car would close up the field reducing any time loss and if timed well, would allow a one stopping car to effectively get a free pit stop.

Recent start performance

Starts are a critical part of the race and strategy can be badly compromised by a poor start, while good starts can make strategists change their plans in the hope of a good result.

As far as 2012 start performance is concerned drivers have gained (+) or lost (-) places off the start line this season on aggregate as follows. Please note that where a driver has been eliminated on first lap this has been noted and removed from the sample as it skews the table. So this is intended as a guide of trends, rather than a definitive list.

Gained:


+39 Glock

+35 Massa ***** *******, Kovalainen

+28 Alonso********, Perez***

+22 Karthikeyan, Vergne **********, Pic

+20 Senna* ***** ********

+16 De la Rosa ****

+15 Hulkenberg***********

+14 Schumacher* ****** **********

+13 Raikkonen, Kobayashi**** *********

+11 Petrov***** *******

+8 Di Resta ***** ***********

+6 Vettel

+5 Button*********

+4 Maldonado****

+2 Hamilton

Lost:

-3 Ricciardo*

-5 Grosjean** **** ***** ******** ***********

-6 Webber********

-7 Rosberg******** ***********

* Senna, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg were all involved in accidents on 1st lap in Australia

** Schumacher and Grosjean collided on Lap 1 in Malaysia, Senna and Perez pitted for wet tyres on opening lap

***Perez punctured on lap 1 in Spain and went to back of field

**** Eliminated by or involved in first lap accident in Monaco

***** Di Resta eliminated lap 1 at Silverstone, Petrov did not start

***** Massa, Senna and Grosjean involved in first lap collisions dropping them to the back

****** Schumacher forced to pit lap 1 in Hungary (lost six places)

*******Massa (puncture) and Petrov (broken nose) pitted for repairs on lap 1 in Singapore after making contact.

******** Alonso, Rosberg, Webber, Senna and Grosjean either retired or dropped to the back following first-lap accidents in Japan

********* Button eliminated, Kobayashi pitted for repairs, on lap 1 after collision in Korea

********** Schumacher and Vergne pitted for repairs at the end of lap one after first-corner collision in India

***********Rosberg, Grosjean di Resta pitted for repairs and rejoined after first-lap incidents in Abu Dhabi. Hulkenberg eliminated after first-corner accident

Pit Stop League Table

Of course good strategy planning also requires good pit stop execution by the mechanics and there have been some amazing performances; we have seen tyre stops carried out in less than two and a half seconds this year.

The league table below shows order of the pit crews based on their best total time in the pit lane in the recent United States Grand Prix

1. McLaren 2.39secs (3)

2. Red Bull 2.48secs (1)

3. Lotus 2.77secs (9)

4. Mercedes 2.87secs (5)

5. Ferrari 3.10secs (2)

6. Sauber 3.66secs (4)

7. Force India 3.68secs (6)

8. Williams 3.72secs (10)

9. Marussia 3.96secs (7)

10. Toro Rosso 4.23secs (8)

11. Caterham 4.29secs (11)

12. HRT 6.08secs (12)

[MIKA27]

'You could write off anyone but Alonso'

Damon Hill believes that if Sebastian Vettel was up against any other driver than Fernando Alonso, the title would almost certainly be his.

Heading into the season-ending grand prix in Brazil, Vettel needs only to finish in the top four to win the Championship, while Alonso needs to win the race and hope Vettel finishes fifth or lower.

With the rampant form that Vettel has enjoyed over the second half of the season (he has been on the podium in the last six races, winning four of them), it seems a near impossible task for Alonso to unseat the current title holder.

However, Hill, a World Champion himself in 1996, has warned Red Bull that Alonso is more than capable than of producing the incredible.

"If he had any other opponent, I would say that Sebastian would definitely win with his 13 points advantage," Hill told Die Welt . "But you can't write off someone like Fernando Alonso. He is such a clever and tough driver and he always seems to pull off something extraordinary.

"Anything is possible in Brazil," he added.

"If I had to put a percentage on it, I would say the odds at 65 per cent in favour of Vettel."

Should Vettel triumph, he will have three Championships to his name at the tender age of just 25.

Hill believes that if he wins in Brazil there is a chance he could challenge Michael Schumacher's record of seven titles.

"[The record] is still a very long way away. But he can certainly come close to that number. If Vettel wins in Brazil, then he could quite possibly win two more Championships in his career. At least."

[MIKA27]

Force India set for £50m investment

Force India boss Vijay Mallya has revealed that his team will receive a significant financial boost ahead of the new season as they look to move up the grid.

While the Silverstone-based outfit will score more points than they did last season - and have improved their haul every year since Mallya took over the team - they look set to finish one position further down the pack due to the rise of Sauber.

With Williams notching up a win this season and Sauber featuring on the podium on more than one occasion, Force India have fallen off the pace slightly. To rectify this situation, Mallya says an injection of cash will be made into the team.

"We had a board meeting in India after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the board has approved a £50 million capital investment programme for the team," he explained.

"We are going to invest heavily in new technology and give more tools to our design team to try and move further up the grid."

Despite not achieving the results they may have hoped for this year, Mallya insists that the season has not been a disappointment.

"Looking back at the season so far, we have every reason to feel proud," he said.

"We've scored more points than in any previous season and every year we've demonstrated that we've gone up the ladder.

"And we've taken fairly significant steps, not just baby steps. Given the tools that we have, which are mostly of the Jordan era, we have done exceptionally well."

[MIKA27]

Korean GP in doubt

The future of the Korean Grand Prix appears to be in jeopardy after it recorded big financial losses for the third successive year.

Every year since it was first held in 2010, organisers have recorded figures in the red and it appears that the financial situation may result in the race no longer being held.

A seven-year contract to host the race at the Yeongam circuit was initially agreed, but with organisers reportedly failing to get the race-sanctioning fees reduced the pressure is taking its toll.

"Compared to the boom years, things have become a little harder but we had 103 000 for race day this year," press manager Yoshihisa Ueno told Reuters.

"Last year with the (tsunami and nuclear) disaster, numbers were down but this year, operation-wise was a successful year."

[MIKA27]

Lowe backs two DRS zones

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe says that every track should have two DRS zones in 2013.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting announced last week that from next season teams will no longer be afforded unlimited use of DRS on Fridays and Saturdays.

With this in mind, Lowe believes that in order for there to remain an incentive for teams to maintain their current ratios, multiple DRS zones are needed at every grand prix. This season, only four of the 19 circuits - Melbourne, Monza, Buddh International Circuit and Yas Marina - had two DRS zones.

"We believe that, particularly if [FIA race director] Charlie [Whiting] arranges for two DRS zones at every circuit, which is what he's committed to doing, that this will give enough incentive to ratio the car appropriately - pretty much as we do now, the same as if we had free use of DRS," Lowe explained during a Vodefone McLaren Mercedes phone-in.

The Briton believes that DRS is a "tremendous solution" to the long-standing problem of overtaking.

"At some circuits it doesn't [help]. India I think was a good example of that - surprisingly, actually, because it's got a good long straight there, it didn't seem to allow overtaking," he said.

"And then you get other circuits where arguably it's too easy. It might be that we should look at that and try and trim the direction on those outlying circuits. But in general I think it works well.

"I don't hear people talking about it being some sort of fix or artificial solution. I think it's something that the driver has to play tactically and use with tremendous skill.

"We saw that on Sunday with Lewis and Sebastian. That was a fair fight, a very very close duel. Ultimately Lewis got past using DRS but it wasn't easy and everybody admired the skill with which he did it. So I think generally it's working very very well."

[MIKA27]

Gillan: Brazil a balancing act

Williams' chief operations engineer Mark Gillan admits that success at Interlagos is all about finding the right balance.

The testing ups and down of the track combined with it's bumpy surface and low speed corners makes it a circuit that many drivers love but that can be a challenge to prepare for.

"The 71 lap long high altitude Interlagos circuit is one of the highlights of the season and one where overtaking is possible," explained Gillan.

"Setting the car up for this circuit is the classic compromise between pandering to the high downforce requirements of the medium-low speed corners in sector 2 versus the low drag demands of the uphill section from the important T12 exit right up to the start-finish line."

For the second race on the trot both Williams drivers scored points in Austin and Gillan is hopefully of making it a hat-trick of points-scoring finishes.

"After a double points finish in Austin, we will be looking for a similar result here to end the season on a high note," he said.

Williams should have plenty of support in Brazil as it is Bruno Senna's home race and his team-mate Pastor Maldonado from neighbouring Venezuela.

"The Brazilian Grand Prix is very special and there's no better place to finish the season," said Maldonado.

"The atmosphere is very Latin American and the fans are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable in the world. It's also close to Venezuela so I always see lots of Venezuelan flags around the track and lots of Venezuelan people around Sao Paolo so it feels a bit like a home Grand Prix."

Senna added: "I've only had the chance to race at home in Formula One twice, but on both occasions the crowd gave me an extra boost. Interlagos is a circuit that most drivers like. It's very technical and difficult to get the most out of it so leads to some exciting racing."

[MIKA27]

Pirelli to test new tyres in Brazil

Pirelli will bring 2013 'prototype' tyres to Brazil this weekend for teams to test in free practice.

The manufacturer is not yet 100 percent sure where the compounds fit in yet and as such they are all being labelled as prototypes as Pirelli look to collect data to work with in the off-season.

"With no testing until February otherwise, this will be an extremely valuable opportunity for them to see what our new tyres are like as they finalise their 2013 cars - so let's hope that it doesn't rain on Friday!" said Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

"Both the compounds and construction will be different, which means that the characteristics of the new tyres will be altered, with a wider working range and some compounds that are slightly more aggressive."

[MIKA27]

Alan Jones: Keep Aussie GP as is

Former F1 champion Alan Jones has rejected suggestions that the Australian GP should become a night race, insisting it's fine the way it is.

The Victorian government's contract with Bernie Ecclestone to host the race expires in 2015 and organisers are under heavy pressure not to renew the deal due to the massive debt that has been racked up.

However, Jones believes that the race offers something special, with the lure of Australia enough to keep it in the mix.

"All the people involved in Formula One just love coming here and so if there had to be a vote taken they'd all put their hand up and say 'We want to go to Australia'," he is quoted as saying by Western Australia Today.

"They love coming here, they like the circuit, it's probably one of the best-run grands prix in the world. So on that aspect alone I think we've got a really good chance of retaining it."

Even if the race remains on the calendar, there have been calls for it to become a night race in order to make the race more spectator friendly for fans in Europe.

Jones isn't too fazed by what fans abroad want, insisting that it it not worth inconveniencing home fans.

"By lighting up Albert Park it would be terribly expensive, it would be inconvenient," he explained.

"You know, you get a lot of corporates coming from interstate. How would they get back in time to start work on Monday morning? As it is at the moment, I think it's a great compromise.

"From my point of view, as Australians, we've been getting up in the middle of the night to watch European grands prix for the last 25 years," he added.

"They (European viewers) can get up to watch one.

"What we're doing now is a good compromise, starting it later in the day."

[MIKA27]

Lotus struggling to pay Raikkonen and staff this month?

Reports and rumours of financial difficulties at Lotus continue, after it was claimed earlier this week that Kimi Raikkonen’s place at the Enstone based team might actually be in doubt for 2013.

Auto Motor und Sport said that there is an issue in terms of promised bonus money in the Finn’s 2012 contract, given his unexpectedly large points tally.

“I don’t know where this stuff comes from,” the 2007 world champion’s spokesman Riku Kuvajan was quoted by the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

“I can’t say anything about it.”

Now, on Wednesday, the German magazine said that other staff at the Enstone based team are waiting for their pay-cheques.

AM&S said that team management is holding out for the latest installment of commercial income from the sport’s owners, headed by chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

The report said that Lotus is waiting for that money to “pay the wages of 493 employees and Kimi Raikkonen”.

[MIKA27]

Barrichello admits that chance of F1 return is practically zero

Rubens Barrichello has all but ruled out a return to Formula One in 2013.

Until now, F1′s longest-serving veteran has refused to actually call time on his grand prix career, despite switching to Indycar for 2012 after losing his Williams race seat.

The Brazilian, 40, made his first visit to a F1 paddock since retiring, last weekend in Austin, sparking rumours that he was chasing the cockpit vacancy at Force India.

But he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “I don’t know whether I’ll be driving Indycar next year. Certainly not with my old KV team.

“Everybody wants money. In F1 my chances [of returning] are practically zero.”

[MIKA27]

Haug doubts that Schumacher wants F1 role in 2013

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug has played down the possibility that Michael Schumacher will return to the paddock next year with a prominent Formula One role.

The seven time world champion is returning to retirement after a three-year comeback with Mercedes, but had been tipped for a non-driving role at Mercedes.

“There will be talks after the season,” Mercedes’ motor racing vice-president Haug told SID news agency.

“However, I don’t think [that] Michael wants a role in F1.

“He loves our brand and we would count ourselves very lucky if Michael would work with us further in the international sphere for Mercedes.

“There are few sportsmen who are rated as highly as he is, or loved as much. And the roots of his professional career were with Mercedes, just as the end of his active career was as well.

“A further cooperation could not be more authentic,” added Haug.

Meanwhile, Haug denied suggestions that Mercedes is ramping up its F1 budget to coincide with the arrival of Lewis Hamilton in 2013.

“I don’t know where these rumours come from,” said the German.

“That was never the plan, and we never have nor ever will complain about having too little money.”