Rabu, 31 Oktober 2012

Nico Hulkenberg joins Sauber for 2013 | 2013 F1 season

Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, Singapore, 2012Nico Hulkenberg will move to Sauber for 2013, the team has confirmed.

It will be the third team Hulkenberg has raced for in as many seasons. He arrived in F1 with Williams in 2010 but was replaced at the team by Pastor Maldonado the following year.

He spent 2011 as a test driver for Force India before joining their race team this year.

'I'm really looking forward to working with the Sauber F1 Team,' said Hulkenberg. 'It's a well-placed team and very competitive.'

'Plus it's a team in which young drivers have repeatedly delivered exceptional performances. I would like to take up that baton.

'The Sauber F1 Team is currently going through a very positive development and I'm certain that together we can achieve a lot. Until that time I will remain fully focused on my job with the Sahara Force India Team. I'd like to thank the management at Sahara Force India for giving me the chance to return to Formula One as a team driver.'

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: 'We've been observing Nico for some time now and his performances have been very persuasive. That was the case in GP2 and has continued into Formula One.

'An obvious highlight was how he scored pole at Interlagos in 2010 despite the most challenging external conditions. He clearly showed that he can seize the chance if it arises.

'But high spots like that are one thing; systematic teamwork is another ' and on that score I have confidence in Nico too. I'm sure he will fit in very well with the Sauber F1 Team. We look forward to working together with him.'

Sauber added the team's second driver for 2013 would be confirmed 'at a later date'.

Sergio Perez is already known to be leaving the team for McLaren. Kamui Kobayashi's seat is believed to be under threat, with reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez tipped as a replacement.

Force India team principal Vijay Mallya said it had been 'a pleasure' to work with Hulkenberg this year.

'At the end of 2010 we identified him as a star of the future and it has been rewarding to watch him develop his racing skills,' he said.

'Together with Paul he has done a brilliant job for us, helping the team score more points than ever before and giving 100% commitment every weekend. We would like to thank him for all his hard work and wish him well for the future. With three races remaining this season, we know Nico will remain totally committed and continue to deliver his best performances for the team.'

See the updated list of 2013 F1 drivers and teams

2013 F1 season

  • Raikkonen to remain at Lotus in 2013
  • Who will be Alonso's next Ferrari team mate?
  • Ferrari retain Massa for 2013
  • FIA confirms 2013 F1 calendar with minor changes
  • Perez gets his big chance - but not with Ferrari

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Image © Sahara Force India F1 Team



McLaren: 'We made it too easy for Vettel' | F1 Fanatic round-up

Start, Buddh International Circuit, 2012In the round-up: McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says his team should have made Sebastian Vettel work harder for his championship lead.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Sebastian Vettel title charge made 'too easy' concedes McLaren chief (The Independent)

Martin Whitmarsh: 'We have made it all too easy for him. In India, for instance, we needed to get up there and give him a harder time at the start. But we weren't able to make anything stick, and instead our two guys found themselves fighting each other and Fernando [Alonso] on the first lap.'

Raikkonen: I could join Ferarri or McLaren (The Telegraph)

'Ferrari could have ended in a slightly nicer way but the people I worked with who are still there, I had a very good relationship with them and go and talk to them still.'

Meet the man who designed the Yas Marina circuit (Gulf News)

'There remains a call to change the surface material of asphalt safety run-offs to gravel traps in order to penalise drivers edging too far wide. Something [Hermann] Tilke is against. 'Nobody wants this, it will result in less overtaking and less risk taking from drivers because once you're punished for your mistake it's race over. Drivers will be too careful'.'

Designer Newey at the epicentre of Red Bull's timely title revival, says Webber (Daily Mail)

'He is always coming up with ideas. Whenever Adrian is around it just brings everyone up ' the engineering guys, the mechanics. He is such a beacon for our team. For us, when it is a bit smelly, he just sticks to his guns, and when it's going well, you never notice it.'

McLaren: Perez still a work in progress (Autosport)

Martin Whitmarsh: 'He has the speed, and he wants to get up there and win. But if he hasn't got something to learn at 22, there is something wrong.'

Il tweet di Alonso non parte: in Ferrari la notte piu lunga (La Stampa)

This article in Italian newspaper La Stampa makes a headline-grabbing claim about Alonso. It has already appeared in numerous English-language publications, however I'm not sure whether I would take it at face value. See Tweets below and this comment from yesterday for more.

Wolff wants quick budget solution (ESPN)

Toto Wolff: 'I think Bernie's approach is a very effective and simple one; maximum budget, you don't spend more, if you are caught cheating you are penalised ' severely penalised ' functions well. But we need to sort it out.'

Lewis Hamilton stays after India Grand Prix to help children left behind (The Guardian)

'I'm a little bit nervous about it because it was such a huge shock when I went to Manila, in the Philippines, so I can imagine here that it is going to be worse.'

The truth behind Ecclestone's £258m legal letter (Eurosport)

'The bottom line is that Gribkowsky did sell to the highest bidder as no other offer was as high as the one made by CVC. Gribkowsky has claimed that he could have sold F1 for £685m but since no other bidder was prepared to pay BayernLB this amount it is hard to see how it can be anything other than hypothetical. Ecclestone says F1 'was something they couldn't sell. They had six people look at them and wouldn't buy.' It could well explain why he isn't worried right now.'

Buddh International Circuit hosts second edition of F1 Indian Grand Prix (The Times of India)

'Even with ticket prices slashed by some 40% from 2011, the cheapest ticket was Rs 2,000 [£23.05]. This is far too expensive even for our urban population.'

F1 diary: Indian Grand Prix (The Telegraph)

'There are many banners in the crowd, most proclaiming support for perennial tail-ender and local hero Narain Karthikeyan. There are pockets of support for Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, but not a solitary sign of affection for Force India, based at Silverstone but running with an Indian licence.'

Causing frustration (Sky)

'Pirelli really need to do something to strengthen the side walls of the tyres to reduce the number of punctures. Apparently these tyres are each around 2 kilos lighter than the Bridgestones and the sidewalls seem particularly vulnerable.'

Jacarepagua race track closes ahead of 2016 Games (F1 Pulse)

'The Jacarepagua track in Rio de Janeiro has hosted its last auto racing event before the site is redeveloped to make room for the 2016 Olympic Park.'

F1 circuit sues former web host over Hellmund video (Austin-American Statesman)

'Circuit of the Americas organizers are suing Dallas-based Rocket Red in district court in Travis County about that email, claiming its subscriber list was compromised. Circuit officials said that the unauthorized message, from F1 COTA News, was sent to a subscriber list that existed in January 2011, which is about the time the circuit's contract with Rocket Red to manage its website was terminated.'

Plug in and play (Darren Heath Photographer)

'Leave Red Bull? Leave a team moulded around him [Sebastian Vettel], devoted to his cause, with a car penned by Adrian Newey, the greatest designer in the sport's history, to go to a team who struggle to understand their own wind-tunnel? A team that are historically unable or unwilling to run two top-drawer drivers, with Fernando Alonso ' by some margin the most politically astute guy in a race suit ' already fully and adoringly ensconced? Yeah, right.'

Welcome to the future of Formula One (The Sun)

'If F1 is going to keep growing we need to embrace races in places like Abu Dhabi and India. If not, the sport will stagnate and I won't be able to eat some of the best food in the world.'

Tweets

Comment of the day

@Jaymenon10 questions why Vettel gets criticised for having the best car:

What is the guy to do? He gets berated for winning just because he manages to get the best out of the best car on the grid? Ridiculous.

Vettel deserves the title as much Alonso, but deserving has got nothing to do with winning. You win because you are the best. People tend to forget that F1 is a team sport, it will be extremely improbable for a driver is a sub-par car to win the title (hopefully Alonso does). The romantics would love for this to happen, but the fact is it hardly does.

Adrian Newey and Christian Horner have put together a solid outfit, with an outstanding driver'because of this they win. Ferrari and McLaren have not, so it is simple. It is true to state that Vettel has had the best car in recent seasons, but so what? He is the one that's made the best of it. He is a vital cog in a very complex operation.
@Jaymenon10

From the forum

  • How's your F1 2012 career going?
  • Your pictures and video from the Indian Grand Prix
  • Have you been affected by Hurricane Sandy?

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to GQsm, Jon Finn and pejte!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Having brought F1 back to Japan at their Suzuka circuit, Honda can't have been too impressed that Gerhard Berger stuck his Ferrari on pole position 25 years ago today.

Indeed there were no Honda-powered cars on the first two rows, something which hadn't happened in over a year. Alain Prost was second for McLaren-TAG followed by Thierry Boutsen (Benetton-Ford) and Michele Alboreto (Ferrari).

Image © Red Bull/Getty images



Red Bull reveal interactive 360-degree video of their F1 car in action | F1 video

Red Bull and Norwegian company Making View have produced a remarkable new interactive onboard video of an F1 car in action.

The video above features an interactive camera which can be moved in real-time while it is playing.

It shows Sebastien Buemi lapping Norway's Rudskogen Motorsenter in their show car in August.

Note that due to the large amount of data in the video it may take a while to load depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Thanks to Making View for granting permission for F1 Fanatic to reproduce their video.

Pictures: Sebastien Buemi at Rudskogen Motorsenter







F1 video

  • Red Bull reveal interactive 360-degree video of their F1 car in action
  • F1 fans' videos from the 2012 Korean Grand Prix
  • F1 fans' videos from the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix
  • Hamilton on racing Rosberg: "He's pretty easy... although he did push me off the track!"
  • F1 fans' videos from the Singapore Grand Prix

Browse all F1 videos

Images © Red Bull/Daniel Tengs



Selasa, 30 Oktober 2012

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Indian Grand Prix | 2012 Indian Grand Prix

The top ten pictures which tell the story of the Indian Grand Prix.

Esteban Gutierrez, Friday practice

Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Esteban Gutierrez got the call-up to participate in an F1 session for the first time on Friday morning as Sergio Perez was unwell ' or so the team claimed.

Gutierrez survived a high-speed spin at this point on the track without hitting anything as he shared a track with the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton (in the background) for the first time.

Kimi Raikkonen, Saturday

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Qualifying did not go according to plan for Kimi Raikkonen who was disappointed to find himself only seventh on the grid.

Nico Rosberg, Saturday

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Lock-ups were a common sight at the blind turn three. Rosberg had a good run on used soft tyres in Q2 but elected not to set a time in Q3 to save tyres.

The race was a disappointment as he came in a point-less 11th, but at least this time he made it through the first lap without being hit by someone.

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, Saturday

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Fernando Alonso tried with all his might but he couldn't get in front of Vettel when it mattered. The Ferrari driver started fifth, four places behind the reigning champion, but rose to second by the chequered flag.

Paul di Resta, Indian Grand Prix

Paul di Resta, Force India, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

It was an important weekend for Force India in their home Grand Prix, but team owner Vijay Mallya was unhappy that journalists were more interested in quizzing him about his struggling business interests rather than his F1 team.

Paul di Resta had a frustrating race to 12th while team mate Nico Hulkenberg brought home eighth-place points to give Mallya some much-needed good news.

Start, Indian Grand Prix

Start, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Vettel made sure he kept team mate Mark Webber behind at the start while Hamilton's poor getaway from third meant Red Bull's position would not be challenged on the crucial first lap.

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, Indian Grand Prix

Jenson Button, McLaren, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Having fallen behind Jenson Button at the start, Hamilton teed up his team mate for a pass in the second DRS zone early on in the race.

Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, Indian Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

For fifty-nine-and-three-quarter laps of the sixty-lap race Felipe Massa had Raikkonen filling his mirrors. Raikkonen briefly got past after their pit stops, and the pair raced towards the DRS activation line on the entry to turn three side-by-side.

Neither wanted to be first across the line, giving the other the benefit of the speed boost. Massa made sure he crossed it after Raikkonen and easily re-passed the Lotus as they came out of the corner.

'I managed to come out of pit lane in front, but then I let him through at turn three because he was still very close and I wanted to have the DRS down the straight,' said Massa. 'I think he realised that, but by then it was too late and I had the advantage and managed to get by.'

Charles Pic, Indian Grand Prix

Charles Pic, Marussia, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Charles Pic's efforts earned high praise from his team. He kept Vitaly Petrov behind in the opening laps and stayed on terms with the Caterhams until late in the race.

Red Bull, Indian Grand Prix

Red Bull, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Sebastian Vettel clinched his fourth win in a row as Red Bull continued to exert their dominance. The team can win the constructors' championship in the next race, but the drivers' title won't be decided for at least two more rounds.

More Indian Grand Prix pictures

  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix Thursday in pictures
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix practice in pictures
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix qualifying in pictures
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix in pictures

Share your Indian Grand Prix pictures and video

Were you at Buddh International circuit last weekend? Share your pictures and video from the Indian Grand Prix here:

  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix: Your pictures and video

2012 Indian Grand Prix

  • Top ten pictures from the 2012 Indian Grand Prix
  • Perfect score gives Carpy3 the Predictions points lead
  • The facts of Vettel's crushing superiority
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix lap charts
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix fastest laps
Browse all 2012 Indian Grand Prix articles

Image © Sauber F1 Team, Lotus F1 Team/LAT, Mercedes/Hoch Zwei, Pirelli/LAT, Sahara Force India F1 Team, Red Bull/Getty Images, McLaren/LAT, Lotus F1 Team/LAT, Marussia, Red Bull/Getty Images



Perfect score gives Carpy3 the Predictions points lead | Predictions Championship

Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Ten players produced perfect scores in the Predictions Championship ' and one of them took over the lead of the points standings.

The prizes for the Indian Grand Prix round went to @Lucamus, Klait (@f1kb) and @Me4me. They respectively won a 1976 Autocourtse eBook, a Grand Prix Heroes DVD and an F1 poster from PJ Tierney, having come out on top in the pole position time tie-breaker. Impressively, all three guessed Vettel's pole time to within 0.152s.

Seven more players also scored a maximum 50 points but missed out on prizes due to the tie-breaker. Among them was Paul Lovell (@Carpy3), who moved up from 13th to take the lead in the championship.

Sebastian Vettel's dominant performance was widely expected: over 90% predicted he would take pole position and almost 80% tipped him to win.

See the updated points standings in full here:

  • Updated Predictions Championship standings

Here are the predictions from the top-scoring players in this round:

We're in the middle of back-to-back races so be sure to get your entry in for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix right away.

Remember you can make your predictions for all the remaining rounds of the season below and edit them whenever you like up until the start of each qualifying session.

2012 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship overall prizes

Grand prize: Two grandstands tickets to the 2013 British Grand Prix

The person who scores the most points over the whole season will win two grandstand tickets to the 2013 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The grand prize winner will receive tickets to all three days of the event with reserved seating for the race.

  • Buy British Grand Prix tickets via the Silverstone website or call the ticket hotline on 0844 3728 300

Second place prize: An F1 painting of your choice

The second place finisher will win a Formula 1 painting by Rob Ijbema.

You get to choose which F1 driver, present or past, will feature in the painting.

Or you can pick one of the other motor racing paintings on Rob's site:

  • Car-a-day

Runner-up prize: Racecar Engineering subscriptions

The five players with the next highest scores (positions three to seven) will each win a year's subscription to Racecar Engineering magazine.

Racecar Engineering is the world's leading motorsport technology magazine. Every issue is packed with in-depth features, interviews and analysis from Formula One, Le Mans and all forms racing and rallying.

  • Exclusive offer: save up to £33 when you subscribe to Racecar Engineering

Runner-up prize: Autocourse calendars

The five players with the next highest scores (positions eight to 12) will each win a 2013 Autocourse calendar.

The Autocourse Grand Prix calendar contains images taken during the season of all the major players competing in the Formula One World Championship.

The images are high resolution and taken by one of the world's leading Grand Prix photographers, the calendar is printed on art quality paper and comes with a stiffened backing board and shrink wrapped for protection.

  • Autocourse Grand Prix calendar

More prizes to be announced

Further prizes will be announced during the season.

2012 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship race prizes

Race winner's prize: Autocourse eBooks

The highest scorer in each race will win an Autocourse eBook. The 1971 edition will be the first prize up for grabs, and later players will have the chance to win 1972 to 1976 editions.

The Autocourse eBooks are faithful reproductions of the original annuals in digital form. The colour, clarity of images and text have been improved to modern standards, but the content remains in original format.

Autocourse has become the definitive record of Formula One racing the world over and early editions are collector's items, which regularly trade for hundreds of pounds.

  • The 1971 Autocourse eBook is available from www.autocourse.com for £19.99 with free postage/packing to UK customers.

First runner-up prize: Grand Prix Heroes DVD

Grand Prix Heroes DVDsThe second-placed player in each race will win their choice of one of Duke Video's new Grand Prix Heroes DVDs (pictured top).

Videos are available on such famous F1 figures as Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Mika Hakkinen, Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Scheckter, Ronnie Peterson, Peter Revson and Frank Williams.

  • Duke Video

Second runner-up prize: F1 posters by PJ Tierney

PJ Tierney F1 postersThe third-placed player in each race will win one of PJ Tierney's excellent unofficial Formula 1 posters.

You can view PJ's posters along with his other work on his website:

  • PJ Tierney

How to enter

To enter, predict the pole sitter and the top five finishers in the race. You can also enter a prediction for the pole position lap time ' this may be used as a tie-breaker.

Enter your pole position lap time prediction as follows: MM:SS.ccc

For example, for a lap of one minute, 23.456 seconds you would enter 01:23.456

You need to log in using an F1 Fanatic account to make your prediction.

If you haven't got one yet the sign-up process is quick, simple and entirely free: sign up here now.

After entering your prediction, you will receive an email confirming your entry. If this does not happen, or you are concerned your prediction has not been received, please get in touch using the contact form.

Enter your predictions

You must be logged in

2012 Indian Grand Prix

  • Top ten pictures from the 2012 Indian Grand Prix
  • Perfect score gives Carpy3 the Predictions points lead
  • The facts of Vettel's crushing superiority
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix lap charts
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix fastest laps
Browse all 2012 Indian Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images



Lotus plan fix for loss of straight-line speed | 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Romain Grosjean, Lotus, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Lotus will introduce an upgrade in Abu Dhabi this weekend which they hope will cure a key drawback of their recently-introduced Coanda exhaust.

The E20 has had poor straight-line speed since the team added its Coanda exhaust. Kimi Raikkonen was slowest through the speed trap in qualifying in India.

'We aim to introduce an exhaust pipe that keeps all of the Coanda downforce benefit, but sheds some of the horsepower penalty that we suffered with for our first iteration design,' said technical director James Allison.

Allison said this represents the team's first attempt to reduce some of the power loss and they expect to find more: 'It is not really the straight-line pace that is the issue as we can set that wherever we like simply by choosing the rear wing setting. It is the power that we need to recover.

'Our first version of the Coanda system is rather power-hungry. With Renault Sport's help we expect to claw back around one third of the loss in Abu Dhabi, and would be able to get around half of the loss back eventually.'

Both drivers finished Sunday's Indian Grand Prix stuck behind other cars which they struggled to pass due to the difference in top speeds.

'Unfortunately Kimi spent most of his race looking at the back of [Felipe] Massa's car,' said Allison. 'We briefly got past him at the pit stop but only to be overtaken in the DRS zone down the straight and then really sat behind him without the speed or power to overtake him again.

'Kimi could comfortably drop back and then come up behind Felipe, so it was clear we were definitely faster than the Ferrari. This confirmed that we had qualified somewhat put of position with both cars.

'Sadly, with the compound choices being so conservative at this race, it was very hard to build up the necessary head of steam to force an overtake.'

Lotus will test their 'Double DRS' upgrade again in the Young Drivers' Test following this weekend's Grand Prix, but Allison does not expect to use it in a race this year:

'Our plan is to work on understanding how to make it act in a sufficiently predictable manner to be deployable in a race. Given the difficulty we have experienced so far, I think it would be optimistic to see it used in anger this season, within the final races remaining.'

2012 Indian Grand Prix

  • Top ten pictures from the 2012 Indian Grand Prix
  • Perfect score gives Carpy3 the Predictions points lead
  • The facts of Vettel's crushing superiority
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix lap charts
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix fastest laps
Browse all 2012 Indian Grand Prix articles

Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT



Senin, 29 Oktober 2012

Raikkonen to remain at Lotus in 2013 | 2013 F1 season

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Kimi Raikkonen will continue driving for Lotus in 2013, the team have confirmed.

Raikkonen returned to F1 with the team this year following a two-year absence from competition.

'I think my return to Formula 1 has gone pretty well and the team has done a very good job all year so far,' said Raikkonen.

'To be honest, I didn't expect to be fighting for the drivers' championship this season when you look at where the team was in 2011, so it has been great to be on the podium so many times and to score points on a regular basis.

'I feel very comfortable with Lotus F1 Team and we share the same philosophy of racing. Continuing with the team was an obvious choice for me and I'm looking forward to making another step forward together next year.'

Team principal Eric Boullier hailed Raikkonen 'exceptional comeback':

'From the first time he sat in the car this year it was clear he had lost none of his pace or technical feedback and we have been rewarded by a focused and motivated driver all season.

'For Lotus F1 Team to be fighting for such strong championship positions this year is in no small part attributed to Kimi's talent and experience of racing. It was a natural conclusion for us to confirm that we will be harnessing his abilities for next season.'

The announcement was made in a video on the team's YouTube account on Monday:

See the updated list of 2013 F1 drivers and teams.

2013 F1 season

  • Raikkonen to remain at Lotus in 2013
  • Who will be Alonso's next Ferrari team mate?
  • Ferrari retain Massa for 2013
  • FIA confirms 2013 F1 calendar with minor changes
  • Perez gets his big chance - but not with Ferrari

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT



Vote for your 2012 Indian GP driver of the weekend | 2012 Indian Grand Prix

Which F1 driver had the best race weekend in India?

Compare all the drivers' performances below and vote for who you think was the best driver of the Indian Grand Prix weekend.

Indian Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Sebastian Vettel ' Fastest in both sessions on Friday, Vettel secured passage through Q1 and Q2 using just eight laps. He nearly tripped up with a mistake on his first Q3 lap, but his final effort secured his fifth pole position of the season. He made no mistakes at the start, and never looked like bowing under pressure after Alonso took up second place behind him.

Mark Webber ' Had a chance at taking pole position off Vettel but made a mistake at turn three on his final lap. Couldn't get within range of his team mate at the start but probably wouldn't have lost second to Alonso had it not been for his KERS problem.

McLaren

Jenson Button ' McLaren's gearbox problems continued in India for both drivers. It cost Button significant running in the second practice session. He took third on the first lap but was demoted by Alonso and Hamilton in the DRS zone, and had a lonely run to fifth. Set fastest lap on the final tour.

Lewis Hamilton ' Hamilton's gearshift problem occurred in the race and necessitated a change of steering wheel which was accomplished with impressive speed. By that time the leading trio were already too far ahead, Hamilton having lost a place to Alonso at the start when he braked slightly too late for turn four. He reeled in Webber at the end but was unable to pass him for third despite getting within DRS range.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Fernando Alonso ' Before the race Alonso said his first goal was to pass the McLarens and then put pressure on the Red Bulls in the hope that something would go wrong for them. That was exactly how it panned out: he was up to third by lap four, then chased after the Red Bulls. How he must have wished the KERS problem had affected Vettel's car instead of Webber's. Second was the best on offer and it keeps him in range of Vettel.

Felipe Massa ' Looks scruffy with spins in practice and qualifying, though at least part of that was down to a problem on his car on Friday. Never looked like figuring in the battle with the five cars ahead of him, but used DRS cannily to re-pass Raikkonen when he lost position to the Lotus driver after pitting. Coped with low fuel in the second half of the race to secure sixth.

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher ' His race was ruined after minor contact with Vergne on the first lap left him with a puncture. The stewards ruled in his favour after drivers complained he did not respond to blue flags quickly enough.

Nico Rosberg ' Rosberg found good performance on the soft tyres after several laps ' but that was no use to him in Q3, so he didn't set a time. In the race he slipped out of the top ten to 11th. He described his weekend as 'pretty unsatisfactory', saying his Mercedes 'just didn't have the pace'.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen ' Raikkonen blamed the changes he made to his car after final practice for a sub-par showing in qualifying. He started seventh and couldn't make any headway during the race, losing out in his one chance to pass Massa after his pit stop. Since its Coanda exhaust update in Korea the E20 has been conspicuously lacking in straight-line speed.

Romain Grosjean ' Stayed out of trouble and scored points again, though he missed out on Q3 for only the second time this year when he went off at turn six. Got past Rosberg on his way to ninth place.

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Paul di Resta ' Di Resta was distinctly unhappy with his car after the race and said he was unable to finish any higher than 12th. 'I've struggled to find the ideal balance with the car all weekend,' he said. 'We identified a few issues in the data last night, but they carried over into the race.'

Nico Hulkenberg ' In the points for the third race in a row, he came out on top in a battle with Grosjean, as he did in Korea. A strong start was key to this, as he jumped up from twelfth to ninth.

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi ' Using a low fuel load in Q2 backfired as an error with his brake balance settings left him 17th on the grid. Had an altercation with Maldonado during the race which resulted in the Williams driver spinning off with a punctured tyre. 'It was a bit strange,' said Kobayashi of the collision. 'He had overtaken me but then he suddenly came on my racing line again. I could not avoid having contact.' The stewards ruled it was a 'racing incident'.

Sergio Perez ' Qualified a strong eighth but unusually his tyres went off long before everyone else's. Picked up a puncture after contact with Ricciardo which ultimately forced him to retire.

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo ' Felt his car improved after switching to the soft tyres but was never in the hunt for points. 'Not exactly an exciting race,' he said afterwards.

Jean-Eric Vergne ' Knocked out in Q1 for the seventh time this year. Damaged his front wing colliding with Schumacher at the start which spoiled his race.

Williams

Bruno Senna, Williams, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Pastor Maldonado ' Got into Q3 but was already slipping backwards when his race was destroyed by a puncture following contact with Kobayashi.

Bruno Senna ' Looked quick in practice but failed to make it into Q3. 'I made a mistake on my lap which is disappointing because I would have been in the top ten if that hadn't happened,' he said. However his race pace was good and he passed his team mate early on. Another pass on Rosberg secured his first point since Monza.

Caterham

Heikki Kovalainen ' Began the race planning to stop twice but switched to a one-stopper. By half distance he was just over five seconds behind Kobayashi, but KERS failure spoiled the second half of his race.

Vitaly Petrov ' Out-qualified Kovalainen for the third time in four races. He dropped behind his team mate and Pic at the start, but soon passed the Marussia. Kovalainen's KERS failure allowed him to pass his team mate for 15th, but he was later demoted by the recovering Vergne and Maldonado.

HRT

Charles Pic, Marussia, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Pedro de la Rosa ' De la Rosa made a terrific start and briefly held 17th before the Caterhams and Marussias came past him. On lap 43 he suffered the latest in a series of brake failures for HRT, putting him into the barrier at turn four.

Narain Karthikeyan ' Treated his brakes gently to survive to the end, albeit 40 seconds behind the next car.

Marussia

Timo Glock ' Said his car's long run pace felt good on Friday but couldn't replicate it in the race, finishing well behind his junior team mate.

Charles Pic ' Qualified last but made a great start and held off Petrov for several laps. Finished ten seconds behind Kovalainen but at least half that was down to blue flags late in the race.

Qualifying and race results summary

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2012 Indian Grand Prix

  • The facts of Vettel's crushing superiority
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix lap charts
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Image © Red Bull/Getty images, Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Sahara Force India F1 Team, Marussia



The facts of Vettel's crushing superiority | 2012 Indian Grand Prix stats and facts

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Visitors to the first two Indian Grands Prix might be left wondering whether anyone other than Sebastian Vettel is allowed to be at the front of an F1 race.

He repeated his feat from last year of starting from pole position, leading every lap and winning the race.

All that was missing from this crushing display was the fastest lap of the race. He did his best to secure that, setting a new fastest lap on his final tour.

However Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Bruno Senna all beat it with their final laps, leaving Vettel's the fourth-quickest lap of the race.

Even so, this was another peerless performance from Vettel and Red Bull. It was his fourth consecutive win and the team's third consecutive front-row lock-out.

Vettel matched his previous feat of winning four races in a row through the last two races of 2010 and the first two of 2011. Only five drivers in F1 history have managed to win five or more races in a row:

Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Imola, 1989*This span of races includes the 1953 Indianapolis 500, which counted towards the world championship, which Ascari did not enter.

For the third race in a row, Vettel led from start to finish. This last happened in 1989, when Ayrton Senna led every lap of the San Marino (pictured), Monaco and Mexican Grands Prix.

Vettel has been in the lead ever since Lewis Hamilton pulled over with gearbox failure on lap 23 of the Singapore Grand Prix: a total of 205 laps.

There are only four longer streaks of consecutive laps led in F1 history. They belong to Ascari (in 1952), Senna (in 1988 and 1989) and Mansell (in 1992). See the last edition of stats and facts for details.

This was the seventh race Vettel has led from start to finish. Only five drivers have managed more than that:

Vettel now has 35 pole positions to his name, but needs another 30 to draw level with the next driver in front of him on the list: Ayrton Senna.

Red Bull scored their third consecutive one-two in qualifying ' the first time they have achieved this. The last team to score three consecutive front rows was McLaren in the 2007 Monaco, Canadian and United States Grands Prix.

By scoring his 26th win in his 98th race Vettel could match Jackie Stewart's career record of 27 wins in 99 races in the next race.

Red Bull can also win the constructors' championship for the third year in a row in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This will happen unless Ferrari take five points out of their lead or McLaren reduce it by 15.

Lots of landmarks

Vettel's win was the 150th for a Renault-engined car. Here's how many of those wins have been scored by different constructors:

McLaren recorded their 150th fastest lap. It was the eighth of Button's career, putting him level with James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher.

And it was the 100th fastest lap for a Mercedes-powered car. The vast majority of those were set by McLaren, who've racked up 82 since their alliance with Mercedes began in 1995. The rest were set by Mercedes themselves (12), Brawn (4) and Force India (2).

More Indian Grand Prix stats and facts

McLaren scored points for the 55th race in a row, equalling the all-time record held by Ferrari. However, as noted here before, when Ferrari did the same points were only awarded down to sixth place for the majority of races.

Paul di Resta finished in 12th place for the third race in a row ' the first time this has ever been done by a driver in F1.

Mercedes have still not scored any points in the three races since Hamilton's move to the team was announced. Nor has Sergio Perez scored since McLaren signed him for 2013.

Finally, Michael Schumacher set a new record for the most laps completed by a Grand Prix driver. He has now logged 16,644 racing laps, eclipsing Rubens Barrichello's tally of 16,631. The next-highest driver who is still competing is Button on 11,826.

2012 Indian Grand Prix

  • The facts of Vettel's crushing superiority
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix lap charts
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix fastest laps
  • 2012 Indian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops
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Images © Red Bull/Getty images, Honda



Minggu, 28 Oktober 2012

Schumacher and Kobayashi avoid penalties | 2012 Indian Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, Buddh International Circuit, 2012Michael Schumacher and Kamui Kobayashi will not be penalised for incidents they were involved in during the Indian Grand Prix.

Schumacher was investigated for failing to react quickly enough to blue flags when he was being lapped by Romain Grosjean.

The stewards decided Grosjean 'did not close the gap to [Schumacher] sufficiently to require [Schumacher] to move out of the way in accordance with appendix H, article 2.4.5.1(d) of the International Sporting Code.'

Kamui Kobayashi escaped punishment following two separate incidents.

The first involved him going off the track while racing Pastor Maldonado. The stewards ruled he had not gained an advantage by leaving the track during their battle.

The stewards also decided their was no foul play in the collision between the pair that led to Maldonado suffering a puncture. Although contact was made the stewards said they 'consider the matter a racing incident'.

2012 Indian Grand Prix

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  • Vettel wins in India but Alonso limits the damage
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Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei



2012 Indian Grand Prix in pictures | F1 pictures

Start, Buddh International Circuit, 2012

Pictures from the Indian Grand Prix, won by Sebastian Vettel.




















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