2012 Formula1 Podcast: Maldonado, Schumacher, Senna And Penalties
Posted on | May 15, 2012 | No Comments
I caught up with a dejected RJ Rishi Kapoor last night and recorded our 2012 Spanish Grand Prix podcast. While I was rejoicing a Williams win, Rishi was dejected that a Williams brought about Schumacher’s retirement!
A quick look on what we discussed in our podcast:
- Maldonado’s first ever Formula1 victory! Were we expecting it, ever? Were you expecting it, ever? This is the special feature on the podcast where I make an honest confession.
- Maldonado – Alonso and their on-track battle, we speak about the start and his defense towards the end!
- And we spoke about Alonso’s improved pace in his ‘Ferr-auber’ (Rishi claims he overheard a conversation between Sauber and the Italian mafia)
- Vettel and Massa’s penalty – do you know why were they penalized? We are still puzzled!
- A Schumacher – Senna clash makes headlines after nearly two decades! Hear our view on their clash!
- Lotus going too conservative on their tyre strategy? We possibly missed an Alonso vs Raikkonen battle in Barcelona
- Mclaren’s pit errors continue; we believe that they’re just jinxed! Brain fade? I think so!
- Is this turning out to be a ‘tyres’ championship more than a ‘drivers’ championship?
Click to hear our 2012 Formula1 Podcast
‘Expect the unexpected’ as Christian Horner rightly said, that is what will exactly be at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix. Until next week…!
If you’re an Indian Formula1 fan, do read 2012 Indian Grand Prix Tickets Go On Sale and go buy your ticket for the Indian Grand Prix!
Tags: 2012 Formula1 Season > 2012 Monaco Grand Prix > 2012 Spanish Grand Prix > Formula1 Podcast
2012 Spanish Grand Prix: Maldonado And Williams On Fire, Literally
Posted on | May 13, 2012 | No Comments
Pre-race, I read data from the last ten Spanish GPs and it revealed that the race was either won by the pole sitter (9 times) or by the driver starting from the front row (once). Then when I remembered that the pole sitter for the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix was Pastor Maldonado and hence the favourite (by history), however, I was convinced that this historic stat wouldn’t repeat in this year’s GP. (Read the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Report)
I was also convinced that Ferrari’s Alonso and the Lotus drivers would be the drivers to beat in today’s race and that prediction wasn’t too far off I would say. However, I am still in complete disbelief that Pastor Maldonado won the 2012 Spanish GP in his WilliamsF1 car!
Here my thoughts from the 2012 Spanish GP:
- I was one of the vocal critics when Pastor Maldonado came to the Formula1 scene with his big paying sponsors. I was of the opinion that it was the money more than the talent that saw the Venezuelan claim his seat in the WilliamsF1 team. My reaction to Maldonado’s appointment was probably more severe because he replaced the quick German driver, Nico Hulkenberg.
- However, I was proved wrong today. Maldonado drove a brilliant race under tremendous pressure to claim his maiden F1 win. He was fair in his racing and successfully managed to keep a charging Alonso at bay in the closing stages of the race! Congratulations!
- There were pre-race jokes about Maldonado being unable to handle the pressure, especially after he went off on the last lap of the 2012 Australian GP while chasing Alonso. However, I am sure these critics (including me!) are now silenced!
- The race was all about tyre strategy as I had predicted in the qualifying report and the preferred tyre choice for most teams was the harder compound.
- Vettel and Massa were the only drivers who made four visits to the pits and this includes their drive through penalty. Amongst the top 10 drivers, Hamilton was the only driver on a two-stop strategy which saw him finish P8 after starting from P24 and last. He finished ahead of his team-mate Button who struggled for grip all weekend.
- Interestingly, Mclaren had yet another pit-stop gaffe and that too with their left rear tyre during Hamilton’s second stop. I wonder when Mclaren’s pit-stop troubles will end!
- Schumacher’s bad luck continued as he rammed into Senna’s rear under-braking of Turn1. Post-race, he was awarded a five place grid penalty for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix for this collision. However, I am of the opinion that Schumacher alone wasn’t to blame for this clash. From the TV replays that I have seen, Senna made two moves under-braking and also braked early for the turn. Schumacher now has 3 DNFs from 5 races this season!
- Pre-race, I had expected the Red Bull Racing drivers to charge up the field. However, issues with the front wing meant that both drivers had to pit for new nose cones and they ultimately ended the race 6th (Vettel) and 11th (Webber). I am curious to know about the issue they encountered with their front wing.
- While Raikkonen and Grosjean finished 3rd and 4th in the race and scored valuable championship points, I was disappointed with Lotus’ conservative attitude. I believe that they could have pitted Raikkonen earlier in his last stint and given him enough laps to chase down Alonso. Lotus was one of my favourites for victory in Spain, but I guess they will need to wait longer to taste victory.
- While Williams and Sauber scored big points in the race, Sahara Force India managed to score one point after Hulkenberg finished 10th and Toro Rosso went pointless from Spain. The mid-field battle is only going to get more interesting as the season progresses! Hulkenberg drove well to fend off multiple challenges from Webber in their fight for tenth place in the closing stages of the race.
- Massa was the biggest disappointment for Ferrari fans after he finished P15 and ahead only of the new comer teams! Not the best of seasons for Massa who I expect to be replaced soon by Ferrari.
- From the bottom teams, both Caterham cars managed to finish the race (in P16 and P17), whereas both Marussia and HRT had one retirement each. (Read post: Caterham And Their Challenges For The 2012 Season)
- And for all Indian Formula1 fans, Karthikeyan’s weekend went from bad to worse after he had to retire from the race after a problem developed with his wheel nut following his pit-stop. I keep asking often and bring back the question once again: Has TATA Made The Wrong Decision With HRT?
The 2012 Formula1 season has been most entertaining and exciting on-track and I hope this reflects in the sport’s global TV viewership. We have already seen two drivers score their maiden wins in the first five races this season and I do bet that Hamilton, Raikkonen, Grosjean and Schumacher will win races later this season. However, the big question for now is: which driver will be the first to win two races this season? My money is on Vettel, Alonso and Button! Now over to Monaco…
Tags: 2012 Formula1 Season > 2012 Monaco Grand Prix > 2012 Spanish Grand Prix > Pastor Maldonado > Race Report > Race Results > WilliamsF1
2012 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying: Hamilton Penalized, Maldonado On Pole
Posted on | May 12, 2012 | No Comments
(I saw the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying in Score, a sports bar in Malad (West) in Mumbai without any commentary! However, I would recommend fans visit this place to watch live sports action!)
Frankly, the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying was a boring one! In the lead up to the session, most people following the sport knew that tyre strategy would be crucial after Pirelli brought their soft and hard compound tyres to a race for the first time this season.
As mentioned in my previous post, tyre strategy isn’t restricted to Race Day alone; teams and drivers are bringing forward their strategy to the Qualifying session as well. This is leading to them to restrict their qualifying attempts to save tyres which of course is affecting the overall ‘show’ of the sport as we witnessed minutes of no action during today’s qualifying session. However, I do expect that ‘qualifying only’ tyres will be introduced in Formula1 sooner or later!
Here are my thoughts from the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying:
Q3:
- Great lap by Hamilton to beat the rest of the field by a clear half second and clinch provisional pole. This would have been Hamilton’s third pole of the season and Mclaren’s 150th pole over-all. However, a refueling error meant that Hamilton was penalized by the Stewards post-race. The penalty means that Hamilton will start the race from P24 and last!
- Hamilton was asked by the team to stop the car on-track to save enough fuel for the FIA to a sample for inspection post the session. However, this was deemed as breach of rules by the Stewards and hence the penalty.
- The penalty also meant that Pastor Maldonado got promoted from P2 to pole position, his first for Williams. The last Williams pole was at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix with Nico Hulkenberg.
- Both Hamilton and Maldonado were the stars of the qualifying session which otherwise saw Schumacher and Vettel post no time to save tyres for the race.
- Kobayashi drove a brilliant lap to get into Q3, however, a technical issue towards the end of Q2 meant that he couldn’t participate further. He starts from P10 tomorrow.
- Alonso, who initially qualified in P3, will now start tomorrow’s race from P2, much to the delight of the local Spanish fans. This also means that Alonso and Ferrari could be capable of fighting for victory tomorrow.
Q2:
- Yet another exciting and entertaining session which saw big names like Massa, Button and Webber eliminated. Button qualified in P11 followed by Webber in P12. Both drivers missed entry into Q3 by less than a tenth of a second!
- Massa on the other hand had yet another disastrous qualifying session. He failed to get into Q3 for the fifth time this season and qualified in only P17! How much more time till Ferrari decides to replace him?
- From the mid-field runners, Perez, Kobayashi and Maldonado managed to get into Q3 where P4 to P10 was separated by less than a tenth!
- While the drivers outside top ten might have an extra set of tyres at their disposal in the race, they will also need to cover that much extra ground to be able to move up further. However, with such a close and competitive field, their task is only going to be that much more difficult.
Q1:
- While the usual suspects were out in this session, there were a few surprises!
- Senna in his Williams was the fall guy of Q1. Frankly, I am not too surprised by his elimination and he didn’t do himself any favours by spinning out while attempting to go faster! I expected him to be able to handle the pressure and I am sure the team expected him to match Maldonado’s pace! Senna’s lap was a staggering one and half second slower.
- In the Caterham camp, Petrov out-qualified Kovalainen for the first time this season by 3 tenths. However, I don’t see them making much progress during the race.
- Pic out-qualified Glock in the Marussia camp by half a second and I don’t expect them to perform miracles in the race either.
- As for HRT, de la Rosa was a further half a second down on Glock in P23, but it was Karthikeyan who bore the brunt of the team’s bad luck. Car issues meant that Karthikeyan could only manage a laptime nearly four seconds slower than his team-mate.
- This meant that his laptime was clearly outside the target 107% time and that his participation in the race would lie in the hands of the Stewards. Post-session, basis his FP3 time, the Stewards did permit Karthikeyan to participate in tomorrow’s race. He starts ahead of Hamilton of course! (Read post: Has TATA Made The Wrong Decision With HRT)
The FIA gifted Frank Williams a pole position on his 70th birthday by penalizing Hamilton, but I do not expect the Williams to win the race. Maldonado will be in the reckoning for a strong points finish, no doubt.
Going back to Hamilton’s penalty, while Twitterverse sees the penalty as too harsh, there are few options that the FIA could have considered rather than exclusion. Possibly a 5 or 10 place grid penalty? Choose his last registered time on the hard compounds or from his Q2 attempt? Frankly, I think a grid penalty is too lenient and the others are too complex to dish out! It is critical for the FIA that this rule is enforced else we could have a scenario where ten cars will stop on track after crossing the finishing line in Q3!
It will also be interesting to see Hamilton charge back to the top. While he is perfectly capable to do so, that he has used up most of his fresh tyres will be a big hurdle for him. I do think that he will finish in the points, but I am also sure that he will join Schumacher’s criticism of the Pirelli tyres which will make his comeback tougher than usual!
Red Bull Racing, who failed to show pace in Q3, will be the happiest team on the grid after their competition has successfully and consistently failed to launch a complete bid to beat them on track. And of course, this is more to do with Mclaren’s recent pit errors which are ruining their driver’s chances in the race and the championship!
My predictions for victory tomorrow? Watch out for the two Lotus cars and of course the Spaniard, Alonso! The temperatures are expected to be cooler, in which case, will the Mercedes’ charge their way through?
Tags: 2012 Formula1 Season > 2012 Spanish Grand Prix > Lewis Hamilton > Pastor Maldonado > Qualifying Results
2012 Formula1 Podcast: Mugello, Mercedes, Catalunya, Pirelli And Sailing
Posted on | May 9, 2012 | No Comments
The silent period of Formula1 ends! After three weeks of silence, Formula1 cars will go roaring in Barcelona, Spain at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend. We’re happy that the action is back and hear RJ Rishi Kapoor and my thoughts in our latest podcast. A brief of what we discussed:
- Was the Mugello test worth any of it? (And Sauber caught fire!)
- Rumours or not, will Mercedes quit the sport?
- Who will win the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix? We place our bets!
- We also wonder if Lewis Hamilton will claim his first ever win at the Circuit de Catalunya?
- And we discuss the Pirelli compounds for the Spanish GP; will they be the biggest source of entertainment?
- Rishi also tells me why he believes Alguersuari will be on Vettel’s speed dial!
- And he accuses me of not doing my Formula1 homework!
Hear our 2012 Formula1 Podcast
If you’re an Indian Formula1 fan, do read 2012 Indian Grand Prix Tickets Go On Sale and go buy your ticket for the Indian Grand Prix!
Tags: 2012 Formula1 Season > 2012 Spanish Grand Prix > Formula1 Podcast > Mugello Test > Pirelli Tyres
HRT And Narain Karthikeyan To Miss The Mugello Test In May
Posted on | April 25, 2012 | No Comments
The week post the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix started with teams announcing their line-up for the mid-season Formula1 test to be held in Mugello in the first week of May. I was looking forward to Narain Karthikeyan and his Hispania Racing Team (HRT) to go testing and hopefully upgrade a few components of their car and work around their setup to move further up the grid and mount a challenge to the second slowest team on the grid, Marussia.
However, in a fresh statement released by the team, they have just announced that they would not be participating in the test in Mugello. The main reason cited by the team is because they are busy shifting their headquarters to Madrid and that their car upgrade would be available only for the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.
It must be noted that HRT has had no track time prior to the start of the season in Australia and have infact put together and worked on their F112 without any testing this season. The result of this of course has been that they have had the slowest cars on the grid in qualifying and while they have finished races, they have been way off the pace!
The news is certainly disappointing for Narain Karthikeyan fans in India who were surely expecting the Indian driver and the Spanish team to make some progress via the extra track time provided. I am slightly surprised at the team’s reasons for missing this test, however, if their next upgrade is going to be available only in Spain, appearing in Mugello and just going around the tracks wouldn’t make much sense as well. Though I am sure that a few of the top teams would be happy to know about HRT missing this test so that they don’t have to deal with mobile chicanes on track!
I wonder if the team is skipping this test due to lack of budgets! Very possible! And of course, I bring back my most read post ‘Has TATA Made The Wrong Decision With HRT’. Do share your thoughts!
And hear RJ Rishi Kapoor and me speak about the Mugello test in our latest Formula1 Podcast.
Tags: 2012 Formula1 Season > Hispania Racing Team > HRT > Mugello Test > Narain Karthikeyan
2012 Formula1 Podcast: Vettel, Di Resta And Raikkonen
Posted on | April 24, 2012 | No Comments
RJ Rishi Kapoor was so smitted by Kimi Raikkonen’s performance in the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix that I caught him imitating the ‘Iceman’ minutes before we started recording our latest podcast.
I had to try hard to convince him to retain the imitation as a part of this podcast! While he agreed, this is also what we ended up discussing:
- A quick look back at the Bahrain Grand Prix
- Best performance was by the Pirelli rubber?
- Raikkonen, Grosjean and their podium effort in Bahrain – could Raikkonen have won? Could the Iceman have overtaken Vettel for victory? We think YES! Hear to know WHY!
- Schumacher said ‘qualifying isn’t as important’, do you think so too? And reality struck Rosberg?
- He also was critical about the Pirelli tyre – we try and decode what he meant…
- Was the Bahrain Grand Prix safe? Was it right for Formula1 to go racing there?
- And Sahara Force India’s invisibility cloak – RJ Rishi Kapoor didn’t admire Harry Potter at work as the FOM Editor in Saturday’s qualifying session
- But, a great two stopping strategy for Paul Di Resta and his strong 6th place! We celebrate!
- We try and predict the pecking order again. The easiest was to predict P19 to P24! Hear this podcast to know if you agree with our prediction!
- And predict the order at the top – we just couldn’t! Can you?
- Also, Rishi discusses the openings in the Mclaren pit-crew, interested candidates should apply!
- French GP is back, but it will alternate with the Belgian GP every year (you will agree with Rishi’s reactions!) and possibly more than 20 races in a calendar year!
- And lastly, we talk about Ecclestone’s ideas of a Grand Slam of Grand Prixs!
Hear our 2012 Formula1 Podcast
We purposely stay away from predictions for the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix! Why? The ever important mid-season test in Mugello (which is from 1 – 3 May) will hopefully shake up the pecking order further!
If you’re an Indian Formula1 fan, do read 2012 Indian Grand Prix Tickets Go On Sale and go buy your ticket for the Indian Grand Prix!
Tags: 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix > 2012 Formula1 Season > 2012 Spanish Grand Prix > Formula1 Podcast
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix: Vettel Wins, Renault Lock Out Podium
Posted on | April 22, 2012 | 4 Comments
The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix was possibly the most controversial race on the Formula1 calendar of the 2012 Formula1 season. However, what the race wasn’t was a ‘Bore-rain’ like its last edition held back in 2010.
My thoughts from the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix:
- Sebastian Vettel clinched a pole to flag win (well almost!) after clinching a surprise pole in qualifying. This was Vettel’s first race win of the season and the good part (for us fans!) was that it wasn’t a dominating one! Vettel’s performance in Bahrain saw him score a hat-trick, win, pole position and fastest lap in the race.
- While Vettel made a perfect start and pulled away in the opening laps, he was put under constant pressure by Lotus’ Raikkonen who finished a little over 3 seconds behind in 2nd. This was Raikkonen’s 5th podium in Bahrain and first on his comeback to the sport.
- I somewhere believe that Lotus were wrong in calling Raikkonen in on the same lap as Vettel for their third pitstop. The Lotus’ were quick on both tyre compounds and while there was DRS, Raikkonen could have attempted to beat Vettel in the battle of the pit crews!
- A further 6 seconds down on Raikkonen was his team-mate Grosjean, who scored the first podium finish of his career. Grosjean’s opening laps deserve special mention after he managed to outpace the front runners and set early pace. What Lotus did show is that they are capable of regular podiums and victories if they do manage to have an incident free weekend!
- Vettel’s team-mate Webber claimed the fourth spot for the fourth race in a row! This also meant an all Renault podium (and fourth spot!) after we witnessed an all Mercedes podium in the last race in China (2012 Chinese Grand Prix)
- Rosberg narrowly managed to pip Sahara Force India’s Di Resta to 5th in a race that we all expected him and his Mercedes team to dominate and challenge for victory. Also, his moves to defend position against Hamilton and Alonso will be investigated post-race. While there are a lot of opinions flying around on social media, I believe that while he was aggressive, he was well within the rule book!
- Paul Di Resta was my driver of the Grand Prix, after he finished 6th by making the best of this two stopping strategy. He was the only driver on the grid on this strategy. A great way to end the weekend for the team! They finished ahead of the Mclarens and Ferraris!
- However, luck wasn’t on Daniel Ricciardo’s side after his P6 turned into a P15 in the race! I wonder what went wrong with the Toro Rossos! Vergne started P19 and finished ahead of Ricciardo in P14.
- While all expected Mclaren to dominate, they had a disappointing weekend in Bahrain. First, the Mclarens really struggled with their pit-stops and Hamilton was at the receiving end this time. Two out of his three pit-stops had an issue with the left rear. This compromised his position in the race eventually finishing P8. Button on the other hand had a late race puncture and then had to retire the car due to mechanical problems.
- And Alonso’s post-qualifying prediction of Ferrari fighting for P6 or P7 came true after he brought his F2012 home in P7, a second ahead of Hamilton. However, it was the other Ferrari of Massa that surely made the Ferrari pit garage happy. He finally scored his first champion point of the season by finishing P9 and only 7 seconds behind Alonso! Massa also became the 18th driver this season to score a championship point!
- Schumacher brought up the top 10 after starting P22 due to a gearbox change penalty. He spent much of his race battling with the mid-field runners to gain a solitary point. However, post-race he did express that his progress up the field was hampered by tyre issues.
- The one team that would be most disappointed would be Williams, who suffered from a double retirement in Bahrain.
- From the newcomer teams, Kovalainen suffered from a first lap puncture after a good qualifying performance yesterday and finished P17. Petrov managed to finish ahead of him in P16.
- And interestingly, Karthikeyan and de la Rosa managed to make a race out of the last position in the classification with the Spaniard beating the Indian to the line by just half a second!
The close and competitive field this season has seen 4 different drivers from 4 different teams win the opening 4 races. Also, we have seen 4 different drivers lead the Drivers’ Championship table! This is great for the fans and also for the drivers as they are all taking points off each other rather than have one driver run away with the spoils. As it stands, the top 5 in the Drivers’ table are separated only by 10 points.
While the next race in Spain is only three weeks away, I look forward to the mid-season tests in Mugello where I am sure most teams are aiming to bring major upgrades before the start of the European leg of the 2012 Formula1 season.
If you’re an Indian Formula1 fan, do read 2012 Indian Grand Prix Tickets Go On Sale and go buy your ticket for the Indian Grand Prix!
Tags: 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix > 2012 Formula1 Season > Race Report > Race Results
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying: Vettel Snatches Pole From Mclaren And Mercedes
Posted on | April 21, 2012 | 1 Comment
We’ve all been discussing that the 2012 Formula1 Season is one of the closest ones yet and the Bahrain GP Qualifying was a testimony to that. While most expected and predicted a Mercedes powered car to clinch pole position honours, it actually turned out to be a Renault powered car!
Here’s my qualifying report from the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix:
Q3:
- Sebastian Vettel clinched his first pole of the season and also his 31st overall Formula1 career pole. I would give Vettel credit for his pole because the Red Bull isn’t the quickest car and is still not over their balance issues. Webber was just about two tenths down and finished in P3.
- Mclaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished a tenth down on Vettel in P2, whereas Button was three tenths slower in P4. I had expected a Mclaren vs Mercedes fight for pole, with Red Bull taking up whatever was remaining.
- Mercedes had a disappointing session as Rosberg, who opted for one run in Q3, could only manage a P4 with a lap four tenths slower than the pole position time of Vettel. Schumacher on the other hand had technical issues that hampered his second run in Q1 ultimately leading to elimination.
- The star of Q3 would be Toro Rosso’s Ricciardo who secured P6 (career best?) just ahead of Lotus’ Grosjean in P7 and Sauber’s Perez in P8.
- Alonso and Paul Di Resta opted to not run in Q3 and will start P9 and P10 respectively. Although there were reports that Di Resta did one out lap on the hard compound tyres as a part of his tyre strategy. However, there was controversy surrounding the Sahara Force India cars with Twitter going abuzz that FOM TV had decided to black-out their coverage due to the team skipping FP2 yesterday!
As a result of the alleged black-out, Sahara Force India was trending on Twitter and I would recommend you going and reading most of the humourous tweets. Here are two very interesting tweets that I read:
- Sahara Force India should’ve run their cars on absolutely empty tracks in qualifying hopefully then FOM would’ve been forced to show them
- (And even better) Sahara Force India cars should drive around the shortcuts of the Bahrain International Circuit and then see if FOM will still avoid showing them on TV!
Q2 Eliminations:
- The big eliminations in Q2 were Raikkonen and Massa. Although I am not too surprised about Massa. This is probably the first time that a Ferrari driver has missed Q3 four consecutive times in a season. However, to be fair to Massa, his first Q2 attempt was quicker than Alonso, only that in the second attempt, Alonso went half a second quicker, a time that Massa couldn’t match. He will start tomorrow’s race from P14 and Raikkonen from P11.
- Post session, Raikkonen did admit that the team hoped that they would squeeze through into Q3 and opted to not run again to save tyres for the race.
- Sahara Force India’s driver Hulkenberg qualified in P13, a thousandth (0.001) of a second behind the Sauber of Kobayashi, once again indicating that the mid-field is very close and competitive. P11 to P14 were separated by just over a tenth!
- The other Sahara Force India driver, Di Resta, managed to pull out three tenths over Hulkenberg in Q2 and qualify for Q3. A great lap that was of course missed by TV!
- The Williams duo of Senna and Maldonado suffered in qualifying were at the bottom of the mid-field pack. Maldonado, who managed a P16, will start P22 after a five place grid penalty due to a gear-box change, whereas Senna will start P15.
- The surprise entry into Q2 was that of Caterham’s Kovalainen, who managed to clinch P16, ahead of a Williams, Mercedes and a Toro Rosso. The Finnish driver has shown resilience in his struggling team and has always managed to pick up the spoils should a top team goof up their qualifying.
Q1 Eliminations:
- The big eliminations in Q1 in Bahrain were Toro Rosso’s Vergne and Mercedes’ Schumacher. This was Vergne’s (P19) third straight Q1 exit somewhere reminding one of the Alguersuari days last season!
- As for Schumacher, the team reported a rear wing problem for his inability to do a second run in Q1. He starts P18 and I would expect him to charge up the field with his double-DRS and sets of tyres saved.
- While I expected Caterham, Marussia and HRT to bring up the rear of the pack, they did so with a bit of a shuffle!
- Petrov, who was a second down on his team-mate Kovalainen, was P20 (for the 4th race in a row!). Had Petrov matched Kovalainen’s Q1 team and made it through to Q2, we could have well seen a Mclaren (Hamilton or Button) join Schumacher and Vergne in the eliminated list!
- As for the battle behind him, Pic got the better of his team-mate Glock, who I suspect had some car problems and was also beaten by HRT’s de la Rosa. These three drivers were separated by less than three tenths!
- And the rear of the grid was completed by Karthikeyan, who was half a second down on his team-mate and four tenths behind Glock’s Marussia in P23. (Read more: Has TATA Made The Wrong Decision With HRT?)
As Schumacher put it in one of his interviews pre-qualifying that with the advent of the KERS and DRS qualifying position isn’t as important for victory and that tyre strategy would matter more. I would suspect that tyres will hold the key in the race tomorrow and maybe a few teams would try radical tyre strategies to make up ground.
I wouldn’t expect Vettel and Red Bull to clinch victory, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were to be on the podium. I would still put my money on a Mclaren for victory tomorrow! Hamilton has the pace, Button knows how to manage the tyres, but the question is: who will win?
Hear RJ Rishi Kapoor and my 2012 Formula1 Podcast on the Bahrain Grand Prix
Tags: 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix > 2012 Formula1 Season > Qualifying Results
2012 Formula1 Podcast: Mercedes In China And Bahrain Too?
Posted on | April 20, 2012 | No Comments
RJ Rishi Kapoor and I exchanged GP notes from last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix and we were totally lost! The action on-track was so fast paced and cars exchanged positions several times a lap that we almost didn’t know what to speak about.
But of course, the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix was all about Nico Rosberg’s maiden Formula1 victory with his Mercedes AMG team. The German team tasted victory in Formula1 in their third year of comeback and a few decades since their last win! Anyway, leaving history aside, the good part of last weekend’s race victory is that we will now finally see Adrian Newey and Ross Brawn battle this season! I hope!
(Read post: Will F1 2012 Be Adrian Newey vs Ross Brawn?)
The Chinese Grand Prix will be remembered for a long time to come. Tyre strategies were crucial and never before has the entire Formula1 field been so close and competitive. At times I was wondering if I was watching a Formula Ford or Formula BMW race where there are more than three cars going abreast in and out of corners.
While the cold track temperatures worked in Rosberg and Mercedes’ favour, the Paddock was surely surprised to see the Mercedes cars control their tyre wear and not go backwards in the race. The other unanswered questions were if Schumacher had the pace for a podium and what if Kimi’s tyres had lasted!
Sticking to Lotus, Grosjean finally finished a race and scored his first ever F1 points. The other team worth mentioning would be WilliamsF1, who had both cars finishing their races in the points. And of course, worth also mentioning that every team and driver barring the new comer teams and Felipe Massa have scored championship points this season! Over to Bahrain…!
Hear our 2012 Formula1 Podcast
In the podcast, we have covered the following:
- Why Rishi Kapoor and I would be excited to attend the Bahrain GP (He is sponsoring my trip!)
- Which Mercedes car would win? Schumacher or Rosberg? And also, which Mercedes powered car is in a better position to win?
- Track temperatures key in Bahrain for tyre degradation? Will the Mercedes AMG team suffer or succeed?
- Ferrari’s quickest pitstops – we talk more about pitstops and how long it actually takes for a pitstop
- We I loved Raikkonen’s race in China. Button could’ve won too. Hear why!
- Vettel, frustrated driver? Will we see the ‘finger’ at all this season?
- Tyre management, Tyre management and Tyre management – will this be the most discussed topic in the 2012 Formula1 season?
- Will it be Mercedes in Bahrain? Can Schumacher get better off Rosberg? Will there be empty grandstands in Bahrain? Hear who we place our bets on for the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix!
- And the Mugello test, mid-season testing is back so hear more of it on our podcast!
If you’re an Indian Formula1 fan, do read 2012 Indian Grand Prix Tickets Go On Sale and go buy your ticket for the Indian Grand Prix!
Tags: 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix > 2012 Chinese Grand Prix > 2012 Formula1 Season > Formula1 Podcast
2012 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying: Rosberg Clinches 1st Career Pole
Posted on | April 14, 2012 | No Comments
Formula1 action resumed after three weeks and it was much awaited. Infact, fans will be treated with back to back GPs as the circus will head to Bahrain and go racing next weekend itself. (Read more: Why Back To Back Formula1 Grand Prix Weekends Are Fun)
Leading to China’s weekend of hosting Formula1, I can say that Bahrain somewhere stole the thunder away by its constant media updates and questions on whether Formula1 should go racing in Bahrain! More thoughts on this later.
Thoughts on the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying:
Top 10:
- Nico Rosberg finally broke his qualifying duck and secured his maiden career pole. I must say it was a treat to watch the on-board footage of his phenomenal qualifying lap. Rosberg was the first driver to set a laptime in Q3 of qualifying and this actually worked in his favour.
- Track temperatures dropped as the session progressed and this is what caught out the other drivers as they struggled to get their tyres to optimum working temperatures. The result, Rosberg claimed pole by a half second margin, which in a massive difference going by the time difference in Q2.
- Also, this was the first time in 2012, Rosberg outqualified his illustrious team-mate Schumacher which is good for Mercedes GP’s inter-team rivalry. In Australia and Malaysia, Rosberg’s driver errors put fans in doubt if he could perform under pressure.
- However, in the race, I expect the Mercedes cars to go backwards and somewhere get the feeling that Schumacher will jump Rosberg at the start and lead the race briefly before extreme tyre wear takes over. Schumacher’s last career win was at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix with Ferrari.
- Hamilton, who was my bet for pole in Shanghai, came second and a 5 place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change will see him start the race from P7, two spots behind Button, who also struggled with his tyres. While the Mclarens weren’t the stars of the qualifying as expected, I do expect them to be strong in the race. Infact, I think one of the two Mclarens will be in fight for victory and this time it could well be Hamilton.
- The star of the Chinese GP qualifying was Kamui Kobayashi who qualified a career best 4th place. Sauber was the only mid-field team who could make it into Q3. Perez qualified 8th and 8 tenths down on Kobayashi. Impressive qualifying by Sauber I would say, especially since their car is not known for one-lap qualifying pace.
- Raikkonen qualified 5th in his Lotus and I would reckon has an outside chance for victory in the race. The Lotus cars do have the speed and along with Kobayashi, Raikkonen is best placed to make the most of the Mercedes cars when they suffer from tyre wear. Grosjean, whose last ditch effort got him into Q3, decided to save tyres and not set a time in Q3. He starts from P10, alongside Alonso’s Ferrari.
- Both Ferrari and Red Bull Racing had only driver each who made it to the top 10. Webber, who seems to be adapting to the 2012 car better qualified in P7 and over one second off Rosberg’s pace. Similarly, Alonso qualified P9 and 1.5 seconds off pole. While their qualifying sessions weren’t the best, I do expect both these drivers to be stronger in the race. I would reckon that Webber could be in sight of a podium should he have an incident-free race.
Q2 Eliminations:
- As always, Q2 was the most exciting of all the three sessions. We had all the mid-field teams fight to grasp a position or two in the top 10 and progress into Q3 and we had the drivers of the top teams avoid elimination by a mid-fielder! Q2 is the best reflection on how close the teams and competition is this season.
- We had the top 10 separated only by 0.28 of a second, whereas P12 to P15 was separated by less than a tenth!
- However, the big eliminators in Q2 were reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s no. 2 driver, Felipe Massa. Vettel was unable to produce a lap which was capable of a position in Q3 and as for Massa his Q2 lap was around two tenths off Alonso. In my view, this is a good improvement for the Brazilian who is struggling to find form this season. Both these drivers will start from row 6 on the grid.
- Rows 7, 8 and 9 will be occupied by team-mates of Williams, Sahara Force India and Toro Rosso, who I believe have been left behind by the Sauber duo for the moment. The difference between these teams and Sauber was half a second in this session.
Q1 Eliminations:
- The last 5 minutes of this session were most interesting when mid-fielder runners put on soft tyres and claimed the top 10 positions leaving top runners (like Vettel and Rosberg) almost on the brink of elimination with a couple of minutes to go.
- Vergne was the fall guy yet again in Q1 and this was his second exit in three races in Q1. His lap was nearly a second off Ricciardo but seven tenths faster than Caterham’s Kovalainen, who qualified in P19.
- Two tenths behind Kovalainen was his team-mate Petrov, there by locking row 10 for the Caterhams. This will be the third race in a row where Petrov will start from P20!
- Rows 11 and 12 are blocked by the Marussia and HRT racing duos, where the more experienced drivers (Glock and de la Rosa) were more than 4 tenths ahead of their team-mates.
- The good news for HRT is that they made the 107% cut off mark quite easily, however, all Karthikeyan fans would be disappointed to know that he qualified 24th and last yet again.
- The difference between the fastest car in Q1 and Karthikeyan’s HRT was nearly 5 seconds! (Read more: Has TATA Made The Wrong Decision With HRT)
Come Race Day, tyre wear and track temperatures will be key factors to extracting consistent race pace from the race cars for all teams. Mclaren and Red Bull have strong race pace and Ferrari have brought five new updates to their F2012. This means that we could witness a five team battle for victory (if you add in Mercedes and Lotus).
Competition this season has been very close and if you still need proof, check out the change in pecking order in today’s qualifying session; a Mclaren is only as low as 5th on the grid, whereas World Champions Red Bull start 6th. Game on!
2012 Indian Grand Prix Tickets are on sale. Read my guide to selecting the best seats at the Buddh International Circuit.
RJ Rishi Kapoor and I made some predictions for the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix. Hear our podcast here.
Tags: 2012 Chinese Grand Prix > 2012 Formula1 Season > Qualifying Results