Wow, what a Grand Prix this turned out to be! It started in rain and treacherous conditions, with a few laps under the safety car before red flags appeared to pause the race. The cars must have been sitting on the home straight for about an hour. The commentary team were wondering if we'd even be able to have a full race, or even a seventy-five percent race (to get full points) with sunset at quarter to six local time.
But eventually things got going under the safety car again, and on lap seventeen it went in while the drivers continued on full wets. Then again, it was less than two laps before we had a serious crash demanding a safety car, and it was championship leader Mark Webber who spun out, and took Nico Rosberg with him.
Vettel continued in the lead, with Alonso and Hamilton behind him. The safety car went in on lap twenty-three, and the race returned to normal operations.
Trulli and Senna were the next to collide, with Trulli losing his front wing. Senna continued while Trulli pitted, attempted to continue, then retired. After an investigation by the stewards, no action was taken. Senna eventually finished the race in fourteenth place, which puts him above the two Virgins in the championship (but still behind Karun Chandhok).
Jenson Button had a bad race, thanks to a poorly-timed pit stop. He came out behind a bunch of drivers including Sutil, Kobayashi, Hulkenberg and Alguersuari, and was unable to overtake them. He eventually finished twelfth, putting him out of the running for the championship. Now he will have to support Lewis Hamilton.
The third safety car was for Buemi and Glock, who collided and went out. Buemi has a five-place grid penalty in Brazil for this.
Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton were first, second and third after Webber went out. A poor pit stop for Alonso where the wheel nut went off and they had to replace it delayed him to come out behind Hamilton. Then Hamilton went wide in the first corner after a restart from the third safety car, and Alonso retook second. He held second until Vettel's engine blew up, and then had the lead. He maintained this lead right to the end, with Hamilton second and Massa third. This puts Alonso first in the championship, with Webber second, Hamilton a close third (21 points behind), and Vettel fourth (25 points behind).
Sutil's race was bad too. He was also stuck at the back, unlike his teammate Liuzzi who came in sixth! Sutil collided with Kobayashi, and although the Japanese was able to continue, Sutil has a five-place grid penalty in Brazil, as well as a $10,000 fine for admitting his awareness of brake problems he had during the race.
The race finished in almost darkness, but with every one of the 55 laps complete.
The Red Bulls gained no points from the race, and Alguersuari was the only Toro Rosso to finish. McLaren are now only 27 points from their rivals, and still have a chance at the constructor's championship.
See you in Brazil in two weeks' time!
Showing posts with label race 16. Show all posts
Showing posts with label race 16. Show all posts
24/10/2010
10/10/2010
Formula 1 Race Sixteen: Race
Post number 100!
Pre Race: Since qualifying was delayed I made no post. However, to summarize: Red Bull one-two. Massa didn't even make it into qualifying 3. However, Kubica went third after Hamilton was demoted five grid places to eighth. On the warm-up lap, Di Grassi's Virgin failed and he didn't even make it to the start.
Start: Four cars went out before the first corner: Petrov crashed into Hulkenberg, and Massa hit Liuzzi. Petrov's incident means he has a five-place grid penalty on the next race, but Massa's had no further action taken. The safety car was immediately sent out, and then it was worse luck for Renault as they lost Kubica when his right rear tyre came off.
Red Bull and Alonso: This is Red Bull's seventh one-two, and Vettel's eighth pole position. He maintained it throughout the race, and although they did not get as far ahead from the field as they used to do they completed the race as they had started, with Webber setting the fastest lap right at the end. He now has 220 points, with Vettel second on 206 and equal with Alonso. Alonso went third after Kubica stopped, and stayed there.
MacLaren: They qualified better than expected, especially Lewis Hamilton with his lack of practice time over the weekend (practice three was a washout). Button started fifth on different tyres to Hamilton. After Kubica went out he went into fourth, and was first for a time after the others did their pit stops. After his stop, Button went fifth, and he would have stayed there if Hamilton hadn't lost third gear. This really affected his ability to accelerate, so he allowed Button to overtake him and it finished Button fourth, Hamilton fifth. In the championship, Hamilton has 192 points and Button has 189. It would take a lot of luck for them to win this now.
Kobayashi: Or, as he's been dubbed, 'Kobaybashi'. He raced very aggressively in front of a home crowd, overtaking four times on the hairpin – three of those on the inside. His overtakes were Alguersuari twice (after pitting); Sutil, which would have been twice if the Force India hadn't had problems; Barrichello; and his teammate Nick Heidfeld who outqualified him. Kobayashi finished an impressive seventh (Heidfeld was eighth).
Mercedes: Rosberg was able to spend most of the race holding up his older teammate Schumacher. However, a car failure right at the end of the race caused him to crash out, and Schumacher finished sixth. It was a good performance from both drivers, and especially from Schumacher compared to previous races.
The new teams: Apart from Di Grassi there were no retirements. Other drivers crashing out got Lotus their desperately-desired twelfth place from Kovalainen, almost certainly guaranteeing them tenth place in the driver's championship – worth a lot of money. There was also some good competition between Yamamoto and Glock, although in the end the Virgin got ahead.
Tuesday: Euro 2012 continues with more qualification matches.
Pre Race: Since qualifying was delayed I made no post. However, to summarize: Red Bull one-two. Massa didn't even make it into qualifying 3. However, Kubica went third after Hamilton was demoted five grid places to eighth. On the warm-up lap, Di Grassi's Virgin failed and he didn't even make it to the start.
Start: Four cars went out before the first corner: Petrov crashed into Hulkenberg, and Massa hit Liuzzi. Petrov's incident means he has a five-place grid penalty on the next race, but Massa's had no further action taken. The safety car was immediately sent out, and then it was worse luck for Renault as they lost Kubica when his right rear tyre came off.
Red Bull and Alonso: This is Red Bull's seventh one-two, and Vettel's eighth pole position. He maintained it throughout the race, and although they did not get as far ahead from the field as they used to do they completed the race as they had started, with Webber setting the fastest lap right at the end. He now has 220 points, with Vettel second on 206 and equal with Alonso. Alonso went third after Kubica stopped, and stayed there.
MacLaren: They qualified better than expected, especially Lewis Hamilton with his lack of practice time over the weekend (practice three was a washout). Button started fifth on different tyres to Hamilton. After Kubica went out he went into fourth, and was first for a time after the others did their pit stops. After his stop, Button went fifth, and he would have stayed there if Hamilton hadn't lost third gear. This really affected his ability to accelerate, so he allowed Button to overtake him and it finished Button fourth, Hamilton fifth. In the championship, Hamilton has 192 points and Button has 189. It would take a lot of luck for them to win this now.
Kobayashi: Or, as he's been dubbed, 'Kobaybashi'. He raced very aggressively in front of a home crowd, overtaking four times on the hairpin – three of those on the inside. His overtakes were Alguersuari twice (after pitting); Sutil, which would have been twice if the Force India hadn't had problems; Barrichello; and his teammate Nick Heidfeld who outqualified him. Kobayashi finished an impressive seventh (Heidfeld was eighth).
Mercedes: Rosberg was able to spend most of the race holding up his older teammate Schumacher. However, a car failure right at the end of the race caused him to crash out, and Schumacher finished sixth. It was a good performance from both drivers, and especially from Schumacher compared to previous races.
The new teams: Apart from Di Grassi there were no retirements. Other drivers crashing out got Lotus their desperately-desired twelfth place from Kovalainen, almost certainly guaranteeing them tenth place in the driver's championship – worth a lot of money. There was also some good competition between Yamamoto and Glock, although in the end the Virgin got ahead.
Tuesday: Euro 2012 continues with more qualification matches.
08/10/2010
Formula 1 Race Sixteen: Preview
In Practice One MacLaren had a bad time, with Lewis Hamilton crashing out half-way through after clipping the kerb. Jenson Button almost made the same mistake, but recovered. The fastest drivers were (unsurprisingly) the Red Bulls with less than 5 hundredths of a second between them, and then Kubica, Sutil and Hamilton – who had set a fast time before his crash.
Practice Two had equally good results for Webber, Vettel and Kubica, with Alonso and Massa fourth and fifth fastest. After a very long wait while his car was fixed, Hamilton managed to get a few laps in but no fast times. Schumacher managed a faster time than his teammate for a change, and Petrov and Sutil also set good times. Right at the end of the session, Rubens Barrichello had an engine problem, but if he needs a change it's okay as he's only used six engines so far this season.
So it looks good for Red Bull here, and Webber could extend his lead over Alonso if things go well in qualifying and the race. Renault and Ferrari should get a good amount of points, and if MacLaren can get their act together after a bad Friday then they might also do reasonably well. I think Sutil for Force India should get a couple of points too. The Williams of Barrichello and Hulkenberg seem to be struggling.
Weather-wise, it looks to be soaking wet tomorrow for Practice Three and Qualifying, which means the grid could be completely mixed up. It will probably be dry on Sunday.
On Karun Chandhok watch: he's at home in England as he informed the BBC commentary boys by text during practice two! So no race and no commentating for him, and it looks like no racing for the rest of the season with Hispania, who will be racing Senna and Yamamoto for the rest of the season.
Practice Two had equally good results for Webber, Vettel and Kubica, with Alonso and Massa fourth and fifth fastest. After a very long wait while his car was fixed, Hamilton managed to get a few laps in but no fast times. Schumacher managed a faster time than his teammate for a change, and Petrov and Sutil also set good times. Right at the end of the session, Rubens Barrichello had an engine problem, but if he needs a change it's okay as he's only used six engines so far this season.
So it looks good for Red Bull here, and Webber could extend his lead over Alonso if things go well in qualifying and the race. Renault and Ferrari should get a good amount of points, and if MacLaren can get their act together after a bad Friday then they might also do reasonably well. I think Sutil for Force India should get a couple of points too. The Williams of Barrichello and Hulkenberg seem to be struggling.
Weather-wise, it looks to be soaking wet tomorrow for Practice Three and Qualifying, which means the grid could be completely mixed up. It will probably be dry on Sunday.
On Karun Chandhok watch: he's at home in England as he informed the BBC commentary boys by text during practice two! So no race and no commentating for him, and it looks like no racing for the rest of the season with Hispania, who will be racing Senna and Yamamoto for the rest of the season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)