Nerves for Ferrari, Front row for Red Bull in Italy

No matter how you want to look at it, when your top driver refers to the pit wall brain trust as "geniuses" (with heavy irony) things are not, in RonSpeak, optimized for maximum performance.

What happened?   Ferrari, unlike anyone else in the field, purposely set out with a strategy to have Alonso get a tow from Massa.   It's a risky strategy: it can help but it can also ruin a lap if you get it wrong.  In Q3  Massa and Alonso were released so that somehow Ricciardo  was between them on their warmup lap and Alonso lost time and contact with Felipe.

Massa slowed and by sector 3 they were in tow but in the meantime Fernando let fly a heavy " should have let him by, you are truly geniuses,  c'mon guys"  ( c'era da farlo passare, veramente site dei geni.  Mamma mia ragazzi).

At the very least a sign that Alonso is not happy about the way things are managed.  At worse they are hints of a driver coming a bit undone.  Certainly with di Montezemolo and all the Ferrari brass in the pits and having that message go out on the world feed, even if in Italian,  will not go over well.
 Of course this is only a snippet of conversation and one must ask, exactly who makes the editorial decisions on which radio calls to make public and what might be their motives?

There was no catching Vettel today, the Red Bull was consistently 2 to 3/10th faster in the German's hands.   But behind him, P2 to P7 all were within less than 5/10ths.

Ferrari's plan for Alonso did not work out because Massa ended up getting a bit of a tow from Webber, enough to pip Fernando by 1/100th of a second.  Massa however will have to start on the "dirty side"  behind Webber so it may not be ideal.

There is also a chance of rain which might explain the bad performance in qualifying from Lotus today.    Hamilton was held up by Sutil quite clearly in Q2 and did not make the final pole shootout.

Pos Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   
 1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m23.755s
 2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m23.968s  +0.213s
 3. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari       1m24.065s  +0.310s
 4. Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m24.132s  +0.377s
 5. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m24.142s  +0.387s
 6. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m24.192s  +0.437s
 7. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m24.209s  +0.454s
 8. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.502s  +0.747s
 9. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.515s  +0.760s
10. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m28.050s  +4.295s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m24.776s                                   Gap **
11. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m24.610s  +0.633s
12. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m24.803s  +0.826s
13. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m24.848s  +0.871s
14. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m24.932s  +0.955s
15. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m25.011s  +1.034s
16. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m25.077s  +1.100s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m25.030s                                   Gap *
17. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m25.226s  +0.907s
18. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault     1m25.291s  +0.972s
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault     1m26.406s  +2.087s
20. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault     1m26.563s  +2.244s
21. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth    1m27.085s  +2.766s
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth    1m27.480s  +3.161s

F1 Season Wrap: grumpy old men tell everyone to get off their lawn

Some time has passed since the end of the Brazilian GP and the whole yellow flag incident. A bit of a spectacle since: what was a completely legitimate question raised and argued by fans turned into a cause celebre for the F1 establishment, all the way up to El Supremo Bernie.

Ecclestone's view that "Flag-gate" was "ridiculous" is perhaps understandable coming from the man who takes credit for yet another exciting season finale and a nail biter for Red Bull and Ferrari fans. However, what's really ridiculous is that with all its high tech gear and telemetry, F1 did not immediately come out and put the matter to rest.  Do not question our judgement, get off our lawn!

Ridiculous was watching establishment motorsport media work the flag issue into a global controversy after it had been already raised and solved, not by them but by, as notorious gatekeeper/grumpy old man Joe Saward calls them, "Internet people".
Frankly, had these "real journalists" managed to raise their noses from the free shrimp buffet in the various hospitality suites and bothered to sit down to go through laps in question frame by frame as "internet people" had done, they could have also put this very legitimate question to bed within 24 hours and not get Bernie upset. We don't question F1's judgement (and we like free shrimp), get off our lawn.

Another one who got all in a bundle recently was Luca di Montezemolo who, with trademark class, called Ecclestone a senile old coot.   di Montezemolo, not exactly a spring chicken himself at 65, was then verbally kung fu'd by the 82 year old Ecclestone who brought up "88 year old Enzo Ferrari when Luca was a young 40"...
It's actually MY lawn, now get off it!.

Not a good week for Monty, that on the heels of Ferrari's official request for a "clarification" on the flag issue. Bad form that, had they looked in on those "internet people" they would have saved themselves yet another PR mistake.

More grumpy old man checking in: 68 year old Dieter Mateschitz came out accusing Alonso for being a sore loser. Frankly, all year long we heard Red Bull whining about being victims and when your star driver takes blames F1 weakest driver and team for his own inability to manage traffic as Vettel did in Austin....
He just forgot now get off his red lawn.

Someone had mentioned how F1 needs a younger audience, perhaps it should quit telling outsiders to get off their lawn...

The Race:

All season we were told Alonso and Ferrari were lucky and chance was why he found himself in a position to fight for the championship at all. Maybe, chance is certainly a part of racing as it was in Brazil for Vettel. For all the griping about bad luck and Senna doing thing to him, Vettel was quite lucky to drive away from a collision he caused on the fist lap, lucky when after gambling on a set of option tires for his second stop, the skyes opened up on his out lap. Fortunately for Seb, Hulkenberg lost it making a move on Hamilton for the lead and the Safety Car was deployed. Vettel struggled around just that one laps and came in for wets. The pit stop was chaotic but he lost little time compared to being out in the pouring rain on slicks. Champions do make the most of luck, no need to pretend it does not exist.

The title was Vettel's to lose and he nearly did, which made it exciting to watch for fans, Red Bull did a superb job again exploiting the regulations to the maximum.F1 put on a good show yet again and moves ahead to a new season minus bendy noses and hopefully a new better form of coverage in the US from F1 new broadcaster, NBC.

Hero to zero award goes to Nico Hulkenberg.  One mistake is all it took,  and just when everyone was saying he should have been the one to take Lewis' seat at Mclaren next year.

One final word about the man who kicked everyone's butt in Brazil: Jenson Button.  His drive on slicks when everyone else was reaching for wets was, to say the least, spectacular.

Well done Gentleman Jenson!

Case closed.

We looked up two things, an FIA track map with the marshaling positions indicated and a clearer copy of the onboard which you can see frame by frame from turn 3 on.
 I rocked the few frames where the marshal on the left side of the track is visible waving what, though not clear, we have to assume is a green flag.  Vettel makes the pass after that green flag station so it's all legal.

Where did the confusion arise? Well,  the lights on Vettel's dashboard are still on at that point and stay on until he passes the next light station.  The dashboard lights are perhaps tied to  transponders at light station as opposed to marshal positions (they don't always match) but flags still take precedence.



Below, laps 3 and part of 4, where Vettel passes the Marussia (notice the lack of top speed on the RB8 at this point) and then the Toro Rosso,  Notice also that on lap 3 the flag station on the right at the exit of T3 is green while on lap 4 it becomes yellow and keep in mind the camera does not see as well as the human eye would in those conditions.

Final verdict?  It was in fact  heads up racing by Vettel, like a Champion would drive.

Are we watching a Championship stolen?

Lights are shining on the dash and that should come straight from Race Control regardless of what marshals are doing on the track.

At the same tine, how could such a sophisticated system not detect the infraction?   If it did happen as narrated on this clip then Vettel and Red Bull have some hardware to give back.

I'm searching, as is everyone else I'm sure for a clearer onboard of the incident... but here is the complete video by Nick G.  illustrating all three suspected illegal passes by Vettel in Brazil,  two in fact legal but the above,  clearly not

Go to Senna's grave and tell him what his nephew did today...

Newly crowned triple World Champion Sebastian Vettel missed a good chance to keep his mouth shut and come across like a decent person Sunday after the race.

Interviewer:
"..and then comes the nephew of Aryton Senna, and here in brazil crashes in the back of your car, what did you think at that moment?"

Vettel: (smiles) "Well let's see, the grave of Ayrton Senna is here in Sau Paulo, at the gaveyard in Murumbi.One has to go there and tell him what is nephew did today. which did not help us ..."

Aside from being a dolt for invoking Ayrton's name in Brazil, Vettel is completely in the wrong about the incident with which he almost threw away his championship.
After a bad start, Vettel is P7 and way wide coming into Descida do Logo, Raikkonen almost hits him, di Resta and Senna are just behind on the inside. Vettel decides to take Turn 4  like he's leading the race and there is nobody else close by.  Senna, who had gone for the gap has no place to go.
Surely Vettel must have looked in the mirrors...

Contrast that with Alonso who takes a much later apex and leaves just enough room for Hulkenberg, just in case.

That Vettel's car was not seriously damaged is a testament to huge luck though if you listen to Red Bull, everyone's out to get them and they had everything against them.   Bah, I'm guessing  all the whining is studied for sympathy because 98% of the public thinks Alonso deserved it since he actually had to fight as the underdog.

(thanks to Sergio and /abductee for the help with the video and translation!)



Allan McNish agrees BTW... though they were being awfully kind there to Vettel on Sky.

Vettel is Schumacher 2.0

The trouble with championships is that someone has to win them.

I suspect there will be many who say Sebastian Vettel did not deserve it as much as Alonso did, I don't completely disagree but that's racing.

I think many will always see 2012 as a win thanks to a much superior car, like people said about Schumacher's last few titles.   Again, true but that's the nature of F1 and also what made Alonso's season so extraordinary. Were it not for Grosjean, Ferrari would have been celebrating tonight for as good as Red Bull was as a team, Ferrari had no breakdowns, no major strategy mistakes this year. But that's racing, it's not sentimental.

Many said Alonso was in a position to fight because of luck, maybe, but when then it takes much luck to be hit as Vettel was today and be able to drive away, to stop for the wrong tires and get a safety car to remedy the mistake a lap or two later (albeit in a somewhat chaotic way). Luck is part of racing.

But the point is that you still need to be able to take advantage of the chances and Sebastian did that in spades and much like Fernando, he let no difficulty get in his way, it was 100% all the time. No whining like Hamilton did today, no Emo stuff like Massa is prone to from time to time. In the end he certainly earned it, congratulation on a spectacular career so far, three in a row by age 25 is just extraordinary,  Vettel is truly Schumacher 2.0

Another fantastic season for Formula 1, No wonder Bernie was beaming after the race. We always talk about the good old days, but let me tell you, racing in the past was never like this, this is the golden age.

More about the race itself when the Executive Summary is ready, in the meantime I'd love to hear your opinions.

Brazil.... Brazil....

Vettel will be the youngest ever three time World Champion Sunday afternoon ...or maybe not. Weird things have been known to happen at Interlagos and Fernando is most definitively looking for a little macumba in Sao Paulo tonight.



2007, Hamilton had it in the bag but his Mclaren choked (or he pressed the wrong button...)



2008 Massa, wins his home race and becomes the first Brazilian World Champion since Senna....for about 38 seconds, until Hamilton crosses the line in 5th place having passed Timo Glock who will never ever in his whole life ever get a Christmas card from Maranello.



2010 Alonso seems to have the Championship well in hand but the race but Brazil denied him crucial points when in the final race in pre-DRS Abu Dhabi saw him spend 40 laps behind Petrov's Renault.

Did I mention it might rain?

Who would you want to see wearing the latest culturally correct Pirelli first place hat this week end?

2012 USGP X Sum

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Tracktards!

All the best shots from Austin

Hamilton wins in Texas and sends it all to Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton moments after winning the inaugural USGP in Austin by Jamey Price

Funny how things work out, I bet tonight Hamilton is Fernando Alonso's best friend forever.  The championship still is 99% in Vettel's pocket but, in the immortal words of Lloyd Christmas "...so you're saying there's still a chance!"

And what about the much discussed move from Ferrari to shift Alonso and Massa to the clean side.  There is quite a bit of bellyaching from the usual suspects,  Christian Horner making sarcastic comments was ironically hilarious but Ferrari were straight up about it, they did not pretend it was anything other than using current rules to the letter and to their advantage.  That's just smart.

Certainly the first race at the Circuit of the Americas was a big success,  much more than many thought possible, including the drivers who had predicted little passing action.
The biggest surprise was how what seemed like negatives on Friday and Saturday turned into spectacular successes on Sunday.   The low grip,  the hard tires  both contributed to spectacular driving and a good show.  There is a lesson there,  the track was not littered with  marbles creating a one lane toboggan run,  that combined with those clever  turn entry cuts on T1 and T11 made for some memorable moments.   Other tracks should take a hard look at those type of features.
Next year, as the track gets more seasoned and if Pirelli brings grippier rubber, will be the true test but Texas definitively went above and beyond on this one.  Well done!

Vettel betrayed some nerves today,  his comments on Karthikayan were uncalled for and he, it turns out, was totally in the wrong: passing procedures on that part of the track were discussed in the drivers meeting and the HRT driver followed them to the letter.

Hamilton was simply mega and Mclaren gave him a great car,  notice he did not lock up the inside front once?  Deserves a 10.

Alonso he has got to be both worried and elated.  He was simply off the pace from Q2 on this week end.  Would be interesting to know if it was a case of chasing a wrong setup but Massa pretty much kicked his butt and that's saying something.  His start though was superb as usual so I'd give him an 8.5.

Massa deserves a 10,  Felipe is a mood driver and having a Ferrari contract in his pocket sure has improved it.  The pass on Kimi was great stuff.  Butto also had a great race.

Let me end with Schumacher, what a miserable race and what  a miserable move on Grosjean, it's just sad to see.

Now on to Brazil where the weather is horrible more often than not and anything can and has happened,  Thank you F1 and pass the popcorn!

The USA Grand Prix
Circuit of the Americas, USA;
56 laps; 308.896km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h35:55.269
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +     0.675
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    39.229
 4.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    46.013
 5.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    56.432
 6.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +  1:04.425
 7.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +  1:10.313
 8.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +  1:13.792
 9.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +  1:14.525
10.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +  1:15.133
11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:24.341
12.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:24.871
13.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:25.510
14.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
15.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
16.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +     1 lap
17.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
20.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps
21.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
22.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:39.347

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Webber        Red Bull-Renault             17
Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari           15


World Championship standings, round 19:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       273        1.  Red Bull-Renault          440
 2.  Alonso       260        2.  Ferrari                   367
 3.  Raikkonen    206        3.  McLaren-Mercedes          353
 4.  Hamilton     190        4.  Lotus-Renault             302
 5.  Webber       167        5.  Mercedes                  136
 6.  Button       163        6.  Sauber-Ferrari            124
 7.  Massa        107        7.  Force India-Mercedes       99
 8.  Grosjean      96        8.  Williams-Renault           76
 9.  Rosberg       93        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         22
10.  Perez         66       
11.  Kobayashi     58       
12.  Hulkenberg    53       
13.  Di Resta      46       
14.  Maldonado     45       
15.  Schumacher    43       
16.  Senna         31       
17.  Vergne        12       
18.  Ricciardo     10       

Fighting bull crap with horse poo.

Felipe Massa at COTA by Jamey Price

While Ferrari's decision to break the seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox, triggering a five spot penalty  putting both he and, crucially, Alonso on the clean side of the track for the start smacks of desperation,   I have no issue with it.
Red Bull has been invoking the letter of the regulations while flaunting their intent all season:  bendy wings,  rubber nose,  rebuilding the whole car after the Abu Dhabi penalty, ignoring the budget cap so as Ferrari's move is legal, hats off to them for leaving nothing on the table.

Lone Star

Photo:Timothy Hollywood Khan/Flickr

Resistance is futile, all your pole are belong to RedBull.

All that remains, if you wanted to see the championship decided in Brazil, is to cheer for an alternator to fail or for Grosjean to attain low earth orbit into turn 1.

All that being said, as of 4:45 PM ET Webber and Schumacher are still under investigation, one for missing post qualifying weigh in and the other for impeding.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time          Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m35.657s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m35.766s   + 0.109
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m36.174s   + 0.517
 4.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m36.587s   + 0.930
 5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m36.708s   + 1.051
 6.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m36.794s   + 1.137
 7.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m36.937s   + 1.280
 8.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m37.141s   + 1.484
 9.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m37.300s   + 1.643
10.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m37.842s   + 2.185
Q2 cut-off time: 1m37.404s                                   Gap **
11.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m37.604s   + 1.808
12.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m37.616s   + 1.820
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m37.665s   + 1.869
14.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m37.879s   + 2.083
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.206s   + 2.410
16.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.437s   + 2.641
17.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m38.501s   + 2.705
Q1 cut-off time: 1m38.862s                                  Gap *
18.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m39.114s   + 2.556
19.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m40.056s   + 3.498
20.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m40.664s   + 4.106
21.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m40.809s   + 4.251
22.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m41.166s   + 4.608
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m42.011s   + 5.453
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m42.740s   + 6.182

107% time: 1m43.317s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

Alonso wishes he had Vettel's package

Sebastian Vettel tearing up COTA by Jamey Price

Fernando Alonso is ready to concede pole to the Red Bulls, faster than anyone on the super slippery Austin asphalt, but not the race.

Because Texas

“No surprises for us, they are the quickest out there, they have the fastest package, they do first and second in all the practices, first and second in all qualifying, and if everything goes normal, first and second in the race.

“In the race sometimes everything is not going normal, and we put more pressure on them on Sundays, we will take out opportunities, we will fight every lap in the race.

“We know the strong point of them, we keep repeating this every race, is the speed of the package. They are very quick. Our strong points are the united team, a very strong team, the driveability of our car. We try to use each of our strong points, and the important thing is to score 11 points more than them in these two races. I’m still convinced that we can do it, but we are not surprised when they are first and second in practice and qualifying.”

There is more scuttlebutt about these mysterious water leaks from the RB8 with some whispering about a fluid transfer ballast system (it actually was an engine coolant tank) but Alonso wanted no part of it...

"Up to now they have passed technical inspection and that means they are legal. The FIA has always modified the rules when it finds they are inadequate"

Ferrari have showed up with a new rear but it is not enough at least over a single lap. Tire wear should not be much of an issue as the surface in Austin is very smooth but for all the praise lavished on the track on this first day, it remains to be seen if there will be much in the way of passing opportunities.   COTA  may look cool but it still is a Tilke track,  a great challenge to drive but where passing is impossible with an F1 car.

Pos Driver                Team                  Time                Laps
 1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m37.718s            17
 2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m38.475s  + 0.757   36
 3. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m38.483s  + 0.765   35
 4. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.748s  + 1.030   31
 5. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.786s  + 1.068   32
 6. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m39.029s  + 1.311   33
 7. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m39.448s  + 1.730   32
 8. Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m39.531s  + 1.813   38
 9. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.653s  + 1.935   36
10. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m40.115s  + 2.397   30
11. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m40.166s  + 2.448   32
12. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m40.230s  + 2.512   35
13. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m40.286s  + 2.568   32
14. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m40.326s  + 2.608   35
15. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m40.435s  + 2.717   30
16. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m40.516s  + 2.798   32
17. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m40.700s  + 2.982   34
18. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m41.430s  + 3.712   35
19. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m42.476s  + 4.758   38
20. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m42.652s  + 4.934   33
21. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m42.846s  + 5.128   38
22. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m43.538s  + 5.820   38
23. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m44.453s  + 6.735   16
24. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m45.114s  + 7.396   20

Vettel on top at USGP first practice

Sebastian Vettel at COTA turn 18 by Jamey Price

Lots of slipping and sliding in the first ever practice session at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The session concluded with Vettel putting in a flyer at 1:28.125

Practice 2 will see teams working on long runs so race pace laps should be in the very low 1:40 with full tanks. Quali simulations on softer tires should see the times drop in the 1:37 and possibly below.

Pos  Driver              Team                   Time                 Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault       1m38.125              30
 2.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes       1m39.543s  + 1.418s   28
 3.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                1m40.337s  + 2.212s   29
 4.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes       1m40.528s  + 2.403s   29
 5.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1m40.650s  + 2.525s   30
 6.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                1m40.966s  + 2.841s   26
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes   1m41.023s  + 2.898s   29
 8.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari         1m41.036s  + 2.911s   28
 9.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes               1m41.159s  + 3.034s   32
10.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari         1m41.473s  + 3.348s   29
11.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   1m41.783s  + 3.658s   29
12.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.825s  + 3.700s   28
13.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.833s  + 3.708s   29
14.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault          1m41.880s  + 3.755s   23
15.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault          1m41.998s  + 3.873s   27
16.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault       1m42.539s  + 4.414s   30
17.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes               1m42.588s  + 4.463s   25
18.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth      1m43.288s  + 5.163s   23
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault       1m43.443s  + 5.318s   28
20.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault       1m43.522s  + 5.397s   23
21.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth      1m44.464s  + 6.339s   24
22.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault       1m44.548s  + 6.423s   29
23.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth           1m46.917s  + 8.792s   13
24.  Ma Qing Hua         HRT-Cosworth           1m48.559s  + 10.434s  19

Pole at the Austin GP will be 1:37.53

That is the calculation made using OptimumLap  simulation software by OptimumG a vehicle dynamics consulting and data acquisition company based in Colorado and boasting a client list that reads like a who's who of international racing and automobile manufacturing.

Henning Olsson, one of OptimumG's lead simulation engineers, wrote a detailed article examining key factors essential for formulating a plan to optimize lap times: aerodynamics,  gearing, traction, braking and fuel consumption.

Olsson admits their simulation is not as sophisticated as what Formula 1 teams have been running because obviously teams guard their specific aero maps, tire models and suspension kinematics like state secrets but, none the less,  key factors for the race can be identified.

One of the fascinating things about this, the first ever race at the Circuit of the Americas will be that nobody has been there so, at least in theory, from a simulation standpoint every team is starting from the same point.

OptimumG's simulations indicate that the track in Austin offers a fairly large possible variation in setup tradeoffs between downforce and top speed, to produce similar lap times and that is good news for racing.   The prediction is for a top speed  sweet spot anywhere between 315 and 307km/h.  Of course opting for more downforce will be great if you're in front, not so good if you have to pass.

In the simulation tables you can spot an issue for Ferrari and Alonso, a +5% increase in aero efficiency is computed as -1.15 improvement in lap time.   Is the RB8 5% more efficient than the Ferrari?  Probably not but there is no doubt that cheater brilliant bendy nose is doing something and Alonso's week end, barring some miracle new aero bit, will be as uphill as the run up to turn 1.

The climb to turn 1 by Jason Bo

Among the unknowns at COTA are tire wear and grip.  One of the biggest challenges for teams will be figuring out when to stop for tires, taking into consideration fuel load and changing track conditions.   As Olsson explains, teams will be keen to determine during practice things like, how many laps does it take for the tires to lose 1% of their grip and what the fuel load sensitivity will be.

This is a window into the depth of racing but before you conclude it's all about the Neweys and their slide rules, megaminds and supercomputers Claude Rouelle, OptimumG's founder, identifies the edge, the one singular and paramount factor in performance above all others:  the human factor.

Rouelle is, among other things, a judge for Formula SAE competition and if you have a half hour of time I would urge you to watch the video below.   His advice is to students but the concepts apply and will help you understand so much about Formula 1 and, indeed any form of racing.

Thank you very much to Florian Wehner,  a Formula SAE student from Germany who sent a link to the article!


Claude Rouelle: Advice for SAE Teams from Adam Miszta on Vimeo.

Red Bull's got a rubber nose

That seems to be the latest buzz on what may be the secret of Newey's car's speed and, while the evidence is not exactly solid, it's a tantalizing theory.

The FIA has placed ever stricter limits on wing flex and has in place this season even tougher tests.  But crucially these tests are static. The theory goes that it's not the Red Bull wings that flex  but the whole nose,  to which the wings are attached, flexes at speed and alters the angle of attack of the wing assembly.   

This is not specifically illegal under the current regulations and deformable component aero is a concept car companies obviously are well aware of,  consider the deformable front spoiler element on the Ferrari 458 Italia, it certainly does not seem pass the "movable aerodynamic device" smell test.

How is it done is perhaps the bigger mystery.  How is the flex controlled?   Structural engineers out there  will be able to advance theories of carbon sheet and polymer construction allowing it to flex the debate is open on the genius vs evil genius bit.   For sure Adrian Newey is a champ at racing those gray areas.

Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing.

Kimi Raikkonen, Yas Marina 2012

The last time a Lotus, in Black and Gold livery won a Grand Prix was in Detroit in 1987 with Ayrton Senna behind the wheel. On Sunday at Yas Marina, Kimi Raikkonen certainly "knew what he had to do" and did what Michael Schumacher with the might and budget of Mercedes behind him could not in two seasons of racing... and he almost smiled on the podium!

Quite a race, possibly the most exciting this season, a total surprise from this track usually pretty but boring. The Championship is closer now but not as close as as it could have been.

Vettel is the luckiest driver in F1?

Without taking anything away from his driving proficiency consider this:

oh, the cruel irony of Kimi winning in a dry country!

1.On Saturday Red Bull commit a technical infraction (which they lamely blame on Renault) in their zeal to put Vettel on pole. RBR have been setting their cars up so they are lacking in top speed but fast in the corners figuring Vettel can break away at the start and be out of DRS range in two laps. It's a strategy that has worked well for them as long as they are on pole.
With their time disqualified, they are allowed by the rules to start from pit lane meaning they could essentially rebuild the car overnight and completely change the setup. In my view this is an error in the regulations, if you commit an infraction, you should not be able to remedy an advantage, Vettel should have started 24th on the grid with the car in parc fermee mode like everyone else.

2. Formula 1 has had what, 99% reliability? 7 cars did not finish Sunday, De La Rosa had to start behind Vettel. Grosjean had a flat on the fist lap, Di Resta had a flat as did Senna. Two Toro Rosso simply moved over and Massa, that fool, managed to lose his head and spin. Perez had a flat and a drive though. Webber moved over. That's 13 cars out of the way and left only Button Alonso and Raikkonen once you take away all the moving chicanes. Add safety cars at favorable times and his getting away with hitting cars and Styrofoam signs, passing off the track and making two blocking moves and Vettel's comeback looks less epic.

Still, you need luck and you need skill,  Webber had a pretty lame race with the same car.  Vettel, as much of a bulldog as Alonso is even if blessed with a better car at the moment, did not "settle" for fourth when he easily could have, he attacked Button.


Who deserves to win the Championship more, Alonso or Vettel?   Tough one, it's Red Bull's to lose but I'm suspecting most racers would say Alonso because he's fighting as the underdog.

But enough about those two, it's Raikkonen and Lotus' day. Super happy for them and Kimi of course, was just vintage Kimi wasn't he?

"Just leave me alone, I know what I'm doing".

Awesome!

Hamilton at the front, Vettel at the back

In what proved to be more exciting than last year's Abu Dhabi GP,  the 6 hr wait between the end of qualifying and the official decision to have Sebastian Vettel's red Bull start from pit lane because of a fuel violation was punctuated by a relentless twitter war between all the journalist present, and not,  eager to give the news first.    Amusingly a blogger won.

The sequence of events for Red Bull at the end of Q3 was identical to what had happened to Lewis Hamilton earlier in the season,  including the frantic call from pit wall to shut down immediately.

It's interesting Red Bull would feel under such pressure to put Vettel on pole to take such a risk.   Certainly confirms views that Red Bulls can only win if they can  start in clear air.

Vettel will get a chance to show his stuff tomorrow and climb back into the points,  tall order considering it's expected to be a one stop race.   Alonso has to keep cool,  he can let Hamilton go has to weigh how much to risk vs gain with Maldonado and of course keep an eye on Raikkonen who is still in the championship.

We as fans get a championship potentially going right down to the wire and somewhere Bernie is smiling.

Vettel now starts from Pit Lane.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time          Gap   
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m40.630s
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m40.978s  + 0.348
 3.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m41.073s  + 0.443
 4.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m41.226s  + 0.596
 5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m41.260s  + 0.630
 6.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m41.290s  + 0.660
 7.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m41.582s  + 0.952
 8.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m41.603s  + 0.973
 9.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m41.723s  + 1.093
10.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m41.778s  + 1.148  
Q2 cut-off time: 1m41.907s                                   Gap **
11.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m42.019s  + 1.118
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m42.084s  + 1.183
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m42.218s  + 1.317
14.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m42.289s  + 1.388
15.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m42.330s  + 1.429
16.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m42.606s  + 1.705
17.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m42.765s  + 1.864
Q1 cut-off time: 1m43.582s                                    Gap *
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m44.058s  + 2.561
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m44.956s  + 3.459
20.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m45.089s  + 3.592
21.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m45.151s  + 3.654
22.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m45.426s  + 3.929
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m45.766s  + 4.269
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m46.382s  + 4.885

107% time: 1m48.601s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

Indian GP Executive Summary

I hope you'll excuse the abbreviated version, it's a beautiful day here in New York City but the city was seriously wounded by this storm. We had to evacuate our building (you may have seen that dangling crane 75 stories up...) and as of now don't know when they will be able to resolve that situation.

Which brings me to F1 which along with doing two races myself this past week end was the last distraction from this mess.

QUICK GRADES:

Awesome first lap then essentially a procession of DRS passing in the same place. Buddh may be a cool technical track but racing turns out to be people racing the one second DRS interval rather than each other. Boring.

Vettel: you can have the best car but you need to still need to execute. That he did and as usual he managed to build a DRS proof gap in the first few laps. I would dearly love to see Vettel start from somewhere in the back and see him really fight for a victory in one of the final races.

Alonso: Star of the race, he too executed his plan and with help from Webber's failing KERS system (funny how things mostly fail on Webber's car...) was able to score as many points as possible behind Newey Vettel.

Mclarens mostrly fizzled, Senna made a cool pass and one bonehead move, Perez did not shine, Massa started and finished, that's about it. F1 needs to do something about tire cutting end plates. It's not possible that such minimal contuse completely shred tires.


Next week Abu Dabhi and hopefully something more exciting.... like being able to watch at home!

No NJ GP but yes, you can bring your giant lens to Austin!

NJGP Pit complex construction in Weehacken. Photo by Freep

Many  are not surprised the NJ GP effort fell apart, at least for next year,  there had been management shakeup and though there has been work done on the pit complex in Weehacken,   you really have not heard that much about it here in NY since the announcement.  

Yes, Red Bull had their big PR stunt and yes Bernie will do whatever possible (short of losing money of course, you can't out-Tony Soprano Bernie!) to make what effectively be a NY Grand Prix happen but not in 2013 at least.    The stories about paving not being behind schedule are a smoke screen of course, surely it's money and politics.   NJ would inevitably make an investment if private investors cannot come up with the funds and there is a "Fiscal Conservative" running for re-election in 2013...

On a positive note,  Austin GP organizers have responded to public outcry and reversed their policy barring SLR cameras and lenses longer than 10 inches.    Great news for fans and nice sign organizers are listening to their concerns.   Our friend Jamey Price wrote a "How to" guide to taking better motorsport photos,  something Jamey is...quite adept at!