Formula 1 - 2012 season

[catalanglais]

You rotters!

As long as Jenson doesn't suffer the same fate!!

[catalanglais]

I'm liking Jaime Alguesuari in the commentary box during first practice on the Beeb.

[catalanglais]

Bahrain to go ahead!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17698721

[catalanglais]

Come on Brian, where are you? 05h35 and final practice is on the Beeb!

Interesting stuff. And, once again, young Alguesuari is doing a great job in the commentary box.

[catalanglais]

Interesting qualifying session!

2 Mercedes, 2 McLaren, 2 Lotus, 2 SAUBER!!! and a RB and a Ferrari in the top ten!!!

Rosberg takes his first ever pole!

[peter]

China qualifying ...


01 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.121
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:35.626 0.505
03 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:35.691 0.570
04 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:35.784 0.663
05 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:35.898 0.777
06 Jenson Button McLaren 1:36.191 1.070
07 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:36.290 1.169
08 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:36.524 1.403
09 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:36.622 1.501
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus No time
11 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:36.031 0.33
12 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:36.255 0.555
13 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:36.283 0.583
14 Bruno Senna Williams 1:36.289 0.589
15 Paul di Resta Force India 1:36.317 0.617
16 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:36.745 1.045
17 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:36.956 1.256
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:37.714 1.422
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:38.463 2.171
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:38.677 2.385
21 Timo Glock Marussia 1:39.282 2.990
22 Charles Pic Marussia 1:39.717 3.425
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:40.411 4.119
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:41.000 4.708

[catalanglais]

Hamilton is going to be downgraded to seventh as he has changed his gearbox - thus giving a Mercedes front row.

[peter]

Revised Final Results !


1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault
6 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
7 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault
8 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
9 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
10 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
11 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari
12 Paul Di Resta Force India-Mercedes
13 Felipe Massa Ferrari
14 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault
15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
16 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari
17 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari
18 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault
19 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth
20 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth
21 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth
22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth
23 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault
Ret Michael Schumacher Mercedes

[serge]

Well edited

[Brian and Helen]

Yes, well it's now 5.57 - Yawn - what's the problem, Cat?

Ah yes, it's 5.57 pm and it's Sunday - hey that's cool. Just watched it - boring first half, second half picked up nicely.

Congrats to Niko, at last. Shame about Schumie and Jensen though - two errors which seriously affected the race.

Brian

[catalanglais]

Interesting article about Red Bull.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/new ... ll-dilemma

and some discussion about the Bahrain GP.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17749536

[catalanglais]

The link below is to an article in todays Inde. It is highly critical that the drivers will compete in Bahrain. I feel sorry for them, actually, they've been put between a rock and a hard place by the FIA who should have cancelled this race some weeks ago, in my opinion.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/co ... 65994.html

[peter]

Bahrain Qualifying :

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:32.422
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:32.520
03 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:32.637
04 Jenson Button McLaren 1:32.711
05 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.821
06 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:32.912
07 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:33.008
08 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:33.394
09 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
10 Paul di Resta Force India
11 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:33.789
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:33.806
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:33.807
14 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:33.912
15 Bruno Senna Williams 1:34.017
16 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:36.132
17 Pastor Maldonado Williams
18 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:34.865
19 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.014
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:35.823
21 Charles Pic Marussia 1:37.683
22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:37.883
23 Timo Glock Marussia 1:37.905
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:38.314

[peter]

Todays timetable :

All times are local (Bahrain is GMT +3)

France is currently GMT+2


Sunday 22 April

15:00 - 17:00: Bahrain GP
17:00: FIA post race press conference

[peter]

Bahrain full results

1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h35:10.990
2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 3.300
3. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 10.100
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 38.700
5. Rosberg Mercedes + 55.400
6. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 57.500
7. Alonso Ferrari + 57.800
8. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 58.900
9. Massa Ferrari + 1:04.900
10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:11.400
11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:12.700
12. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 1:16.500
13. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:30.300
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:33.700
15. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap
19. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
20. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
22. Senna Williams-Renault + 3 laps

Did not finish

Bruno Senna Williams-Renault Lap 54
Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault Lap 25
Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth Lap 24

[peter]

Spanish GP ...



FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2012

Fri 11 May 2012
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30

Sat 12 May 2012
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00

Sun 13 May 2012
Race 14:00

Laps 66
Circuit Length 4.655 km
Lap Record 1:15.641 - F Alonso (2006)

[peter]

The recession has hit Spain hard. There are proposals to drop the Europe GP at Valencia and alternate the Spanish GP between Barcelona and Valencia ... both an easy drive from Languedoc.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3438/758 ... -alternate

[peter]

Christian Horner has rubbished talk of Mark Webber racing for Ferrari next season, saying there's no reason why he would want to leave Red Bull.

With Ferrari's Felipe Massa believed to be on his way out at the end of this season after a disappointing start to his campaign, the rumour mill is rife with speculation over who will replace him.

While Sergio Perez was the hot favourite in the wake of his runner-up result in Malaysia, more recently Webber's name has been mentioned.

However, his Red Bull team boss reckons there is no reason for the Australian, who is out of contract at the end of this season, to swap his current set-up for Ferrari.

"Every spring seems to be a reciprocal thing that Mark is going to Ferrari," Horner told Autosport. "He is not wearing red overalls.

More : http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/773 ... ri-rumours


But then he would say that, wouldn't he ?

[peter]

Mercedes are one of the few who can afford to threaten Bernie Ecclestone ...


Mercedes are reportedly "on the verge of quitting Formula One" after being excluded from Bernie Ecclestone's Stock Exchange floatation boardroom.

Although Mercedes won the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this season, the German manufacturer could pull their support after failing to get the same consideration granted their main rivals in Ecclestone's proposed floatation on the Singapore exchange.

While rivals Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull will all have the chance to appoint directors to the new board, Mercedes have not been included in that offer.

As a result The Times newspaper's F1 correspondent Kevin Eason claims Mercedes could walk away.

'Mercedes, which is estimated to have spent more than £1 billion on grand prix racing in the past two decades, is on the verge of quitting Formula One as the company is denied a seat in the new boardroom that will control the sport when a Stock Exchange float is completed,' Eason reports.

'Red Bull, the relative newcomers to grand prix racing, and Ferrari have both been promised boardroom places by Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's chief executive, as he lines up a float that could value Formula One at up to £6 billion.'

The report continues: 'Mercedes, who registered their first win of the modern era in China only last month, have been isolated with McLaren, their former partners, also being handed a place.'

The report added that should Mercedes quit F1 it could wipe as much as 20 percent off F1's floatation valuation.

[peter]

Qualifying :


1 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:22.285 0.578 14 laps
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:22.302 0.595 15 laps
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:22.424 0.717 14 laps
4 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:22.487 0.780 13 laps
5 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:22.533 0.826 14 laps
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.005 1.298 17 laps
7 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 14 laps
8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 15 laps
9 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 14 laps
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:22.944 0.060 13 laps
11 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:22.977 0.093 8 laps
12 Paul di Resta Force India 1:23.125 0.241 14 laps
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:23.177 0.293 13 laps
14 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:23.265 0.381 11 laps
15 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.442 0.558 11 laps
16 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:23.444 0.560 12 laps
17 Bruno Senna Williams 1:24.981 2.398 8 laps
18 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:25.277 2.694 8 laps
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:25.507 2.924 8 laps
20 Charles Pic Marussia 1:26.582 3.999 8 laps
21 Timo Glock Marussia 1:27.032 4.449 8 laps
22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:27.555 4.972 6 laps
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:31.122 8.539 4 laps
24 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:21.707 17 laps *

* = Penalty for failing to provide fuel sample.

[peter]

Williams's post Spanish celebrations came to a halt on Sunday as an 'explosion' resulted in a serious fire in their garage.

An hour after Pastor Maldonado tasted the victory champagne in Barcelona, a fire broke out in the Williams garage.

The BBC is reporting that there 'may have been an explosion in the garage possibly started by a Kers fire' while latter saying it is a 'suspected fuel fire.'

Either way it does appear serious with ambulances and fire crews currently on the scene.

According to the latest news coming through, four Williams mechanics and one from Force India have been taken to the medical centre for checks.

Caterham driver Heikki Kovalainen has Tweeted saying: "Couple of our guys got injuries, burns and maybe one broken wrist, no news on Williams guys I hope they're ok."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/13052012/ ... e-win.html

[peter]

Provisional Race Result

01 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:29.735
02 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:29.598 3.100
03 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:27.943 3.800
04 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:27.852 14.700
05 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:30.126 64.600
06 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:28.468 67.500
07 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.740 77.900
08 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:32.438 78.100
09 Jenson Button McLaren 1:32.052 85.200
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:31.606 1 lap
11 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:31.322 1 lap
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:32.114 1 lap
13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:30.172 1 lap
14 Paul di Resta Force India 1:31.291 1 lap
15 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.233 1 lap
16 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:31.352 1 lap
17 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:31.618 1 lap
18 Timo Glock Marussia 1:31.070 2 lap
19 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:31.887 3 lap
R Sergio Perez Sauber RETIRED 29 laps 3
R Charles Pic Marussia RETIRED 31 lap
R Narain Karthikeyan HRT RETIRED 44 laps
R Bruno Senna Williams RETIRED 54 laps
R Michael Schumacher Mercedes RETIRED 54 laps

Drivers

1. S. Vettel 61
2. F. Alonso 61
3. L. Hamilton 53
4. K. Raikkonen 49
5. M. Webber 48
6. J. Button 45
7. N. Rosberg 41
8. R. Grosjean 35
9. P. Maldonado 29
10. S. Perez 22
11. K. Kobayashi 19
12. P. di Resta 15
13. B. Senna 14
14. J. Vergne 4
15. N. Hulkenberg 3
16. D. Ricciardo 2
17. F. Massa 2
18. M. Schumacher 2
19. T. Glock 0
20. C. Pic 0
21. V. Petrov 0
22. H. Kovalainen 0
23. P. de la Rosa 0
24. N. Karthikeyan 0



Teams

1 Red Bull 109
2 McLaren 98
3 Lotus 84
4 Ferrari 63
5 Mercedes 43
6 Williams 43
7 Sauber 41
8 Force India 18
9 Toro Rosso 6
10 Marussia 0
11 Caterham 0
12 HRT 0

[peter]

Clip of Williams garage fire :

[peter]

Is F1 PC?

Bernie Ecclestone might feel the French GP's return to F1 is a "done deal" but the country's new sports minister Valerie Fourneyron has raised doubts that it will take place in 2013.

F1 supremo Ecclestone claimed in April that although they need to hold a few more discussions, he is confident the Paul Ricard circuit would host the race next year as part of a deal that will see the country alternate with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

"We are still discussing a few points about money around the race, 'You give me this, I want that' and so on. But, for me, there is no doubt that we will sort it all out," the 81-year-old said.

However, it appears Ecclestone may have jumped the gun as Fourneyron warns that it is unlikely that the race will be back in 2013 as talks are still ongoing.

"There was a remarkable acceleration on a potential race return," she told French radio station RMC.

"We need to have transparency on the issue, on the financial costs and on the seeming lack of concern by the F1 boss (Ecclestone) for the environment.

"There are major accessibility problems to the Castellet circuit (Paul Ricard) and all this deserves more than 10 minutes of debate.

"We are not opposed to the race, but are not sure we will see a race in France next year."

[peter]

Monaco GP





Location Monte Carlo
Laps 78
Circuit Length 3.34 km
Lap Record 1:14.439 - M Schumacher (2004)

Thu 24 May 2012
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30

Sat 26 May 2012
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00

Sun 27 May 2012
Race 14:00