FIA Formula 1 Championship 2012

[niky]

ayos, wala score si vettel

Karma for that little "push"...

[Verbl Kint]

Sergio Perez drove an unforgettable race at Ferrari's bailiwick.

He will most certainly be wearing Rosso Corsa next year.

[Monseratto]

Kimi has almost equal points to 2nd place Lewis in the championship, but never won a race...

[niky]

Sergio Perez drove an unforgettable race at Ferrari's bailiwick.

He will most certainly be wearing Rosso Corsa next year.

Second time this year Alonso got the message: "Sergio is faster than you."

[Retz]

Singapore GP na sunod.

[CoDer]

To RB's engineer:

Do not touch that engine, you'll only destroy it. You created a bad car this season and made it worse this second half.

Excellent run and tire management by Perez, he could have taken the pole if there were more laps to go.

[niky]

To RB's engineer:

Do not touch that engine, you'll only destroy it. You created a bad car this season and made it worse this second half.

Excellent run and tire management by Perez, he could have taken the pole if there were more laps to go.

That car was exceptionally good on its tires this weekend. Same as when Perez nearly beat Alonso back in Malaysia.

If Sauber can get the car (and/or drivers) to be more consistent from race to race, it will be a championship winning car. It has the pace of the Ferraris and McLarens once in a while, with much better tire wear than either.

[Retz]

^

I still can't believe that the Sauber we saw last night was exceptionally fast.

[niky]

^

I still can't believe that the Sauber we saw last night was exceptionally fast.

Combination of factors.

1. The Sauber has a Ferrari engines, so it was always going to have that straight-line advantage over the Renault-powered cars.

2. It's a consistent top-ten car. So we know it has lap pace. In six out of the ten races he finished, Sergio has been in the points.

3. Of the other top teams, Renault Lotus has tire issues. Red Bull Renault has poor straight line speed. Mercedes has terrible mid-race pace issues due to extreme tire wear on a "green track". Ferrari has amazing race-start pace, but they have tire issues when the car is very light at the end of the race. McLaren is the only car that is comprehensively faster on a high speed track like this.

4. Perez was one of the few drivers who gambled on hard tires. Note. Only he and Maldonado opted for the Hard Tires in Q2. And they were 12th and 13th. With Maldonado's penalty, Perez started 12th.

5. The Sauber is exceptional on tires. We saw this in Malaysia where they beat the crap out of everyone else in tire conservation. While Perez and Maldo both started on hard, Maldo's hards were used up pretty early. Perez kept his going till pit stops cycled him to the front. And he was still going fast enough to hold off Lewis Hamilton, on a fresh set of Medium tires, till he had to pit.

6. The softer tires always work better at the end of the race, because the track is fully rubbered and the softs can last almost as long as hards. This is what makes these strategies sometimes worth taking. Perez pitted very, very late (from first) and took on the Medium tires when everyone was on Hards.By the time he came back out, his opponents' Hard tires were starting to wear out. With a fresh set of Mediums, he could cut through traffic very easily, and since he pitted so late, he still had lots of tire left by the end of the race, even though he was going balls out.

-

Very clever strategy from the team... but it required also some very good driving from Perez. Great job by both.

[Monseratto]

Monza Fastest Lap - N Rosberg 1.27.239 on Lap 53...

Good Boy Maldonado... hehehe.

[Retz]

"There are not so many long straights at the next couple of circuits, so we can challenge there."

-Sebastian Vettel

[CoDer]

"There are not so many long straights at the next couple of circuits, so we can challenge there."

-Sebastian Vettel

Or...

RB Tech: Oh there goes the alternator again.

[Monseratto]

Whatever happened to Robert Kubica and his nearly severed right hand...

Kubica wins on return to motor racing
10 September 2012

Defying the odds, Robert Kubica has won his first motorsport event since the accident which nearly took his life in February 2011. On Sunday, the Pole competed in the Ronde Gomitolo di Lana at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRC.

First rumoured at the end of last week, Kubica was on the entry list for the rally but waiting for his car to be readied. Just 19 months earlier, he narrowly escaped death in a similar event after the Skoda he was driving was impaled by a metal roadside barrier.

“I hope I enjoy myself because this is just a matter of re-adapting to driving and helping my arm to recover better, not looking at the stage times,” Kubica told Italy’s SkySport24. “Having already been a driver for 20 years, my body is only used to certain things and I am able to feel these when I drive, so let’s see what happens.”

Remarkably, Kubica’s Subaru – guided by co-driver Giuliano Manfedi – triumphed on the rally’s four stages to beat the Mini of Omar Bergo by just under one minute. The affects of last year’s accident were clearly visible on the right arm of the 27-year-old.

[Retz]

Raikkonen locked into 2013 contract claims Lotus boss



Sep.10 (GMM) Team owner Gerard Lopez has moved to silence the persistent rumours about Kimi Raikkonen’s future, amid reports that the Finn would be moving away from Lotus team at the end of the season.

Recently, the impressive F1 returnee was linked with a switch next year to his former team, Ferrari with whom he won his 2007 title. And now amid the Lewis Hamilton rumours, some have mentioned 32-year-old Raikkonen as the ideal successor, reprising his five-year McLaren career of 2002-2006.

Lotus team figures have, however, revealed that Raikkonen is on a two-year contract. But, in F1, contractual situations are usually complicated, with drivers and teams often only obligated in the event of certain performance-related criteria.

more....
Raikkonen locked into 2013 contract claims Lotus boss | YallaF1.com

[Monseratto]

Sergio too much of a threat to Fernando to occupy the other Ferrari seat. Looking for a more "tame" partner...

‘Kovalainen’s management visits Ferrari’ - GPUpdate.net

‘Kovalainen’s management visits Ferrari’

13 September 2012

The management of Heikki Kovalainen has been invited to Ferrari to discuss a drive for the 2013 Formula 1 season. That is according to Finnish television company MTV3, with the Caterham driver now being tipped as a leading candidate for Fernando Alonso’s team-mate.

As explained in the latest GPUpdate.net Insight, feelings coming out of Maranello are that Alonso may see Sergio Pérez as too much of a threat and that Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo is mentioning Sebastian Vettel as a smokescreen tactic. Whether the Kovalainen talks are preliminary or serious remains to be seen.

According to MTV3, Kovalainen and his team have also been in contact with the Lotus squad which currently runs Romain Grosjean and fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen. He has already spent a season with the Enstone team, having made his F1 debut with the outfit then known as ‘Renault F1’ in 2007. Neither Ferrari nor Kovalainen have confirmed any talks.

[Retz]

Sid Watkins, F1 doctor who tended to Senna, dies



(Reuters) - Professor Sid Watkins, the Formula One doctor who tended to Ayrton Senna after his fatal crash at Imola in 1994 and who saved the lives of countless others through his work on safety, has died at the age of 84.

As word spread around Formula One of his death late on Wednesday, confirmed by a source close to the family, tributes poured in from drivers and all whose lives were touched by the wise-cracking neurosurgeon with a love of cigars and whisky.

They included Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who suffered a huge crash on the same San Marino Grand Prix weekend that claimed the lives of Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger.

"It was Sid Watkins that saved my life in Imola 94. great guy to be with, always happy...tks for everything u have done for us drivers. RIP," Barrichello said on Twitter to 1.7 million followers.

Source: Sid Watkins, F1 doctor who tended to Senna, dies | Reuters

RIP Professor Watkins.

[Retz]

Ayrton Senna documentary to premiere on HBO Asia on Sept. 17

[Verbl Kint]

Saw the blu-ray. Surprisingly balanced considering the opportunity to turn the docu into hero-worship.

[niky]

Can't wait!

So they didn't gloss over the fact that he was a tremendous asshole on track?

[Retz]

Can't wait!

So they didn't gloss over the fact that he was a tremendous asshole on track?

haha, sir niky naman.