Sunday, July 29, 2012

Lewis Hamilton wins Hungary Grand Prix 2012

Lewis Hamilton wins Hungarian Grand Prix 2012

Kimi Raikkonen exerted tremendous pressure on Lewis Hamilton. However, Lewis Hamilton battled to keep back Kimi Raikkonen and won the Formula One Hungary Grand Prix 2012. It was indeed justice for him as all through the weekend including the practice and qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver on the grid. A very calm and controlled race under tremendous pressure ensured that Lewis Hamilton won the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2012.

Romain Grosjean was P2 during the initial laps and was never very far behind Lewis Hamilton. However, he had to settle for the third place. Sebastian Vettel was P4. Fernando Alonso finished at 5th position, followed by Jenson Button at 6th, Bruono Senna at 7th, Mark Webber at 8th, Felipe Massa at 9th.

Disaster stuck Michael Schumacher as his car stalled and other cars were asked to do another formation lap. Two formation laps had not happened for a long long time. As the other cars went on for the second formation lap, Michael Schumacher's Mercedes car was pushed to the pit lane and it was started. The second disaster for Michael Schumacher stuck immediately when they changed the strategy and after the first lap he came to the pits to change his tyres for a long run. Unfortunately, he was found to be speeding during the pitlane and handed over a drive-through penalty. Though he later overtook the backmarkers and was running at 18th position, he retired from the race in lap 60 finishing a miserable race.

His teammate Nico Rosberg finished 10th.

Positions P11-P22 are as follows:
Nico Hulkenberg
Paul Di Resta
Pastor Maldonado
Sergio Perez
Daniel Ricciardo
Jules Vergne
Heiki Kovalainen
Kamui Kobayashi
Vitaly Petrov
Charles Pic
Timo Glock
Pedro de la Rosa

Narain Karthikeyan retired from the race in lap 60 out of the 69 lap race after sustaining left suspension damage breaking the reliability record of the poorly funded HRT team.

Position

Position Driver Team Laps Time/Retired
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 69 Winner
2 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 69 +1.0 secs
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 69 +10.5 secs
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 69 +11.6 secs
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 69 +26.6 secs
6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 69 +30.2 secs
7 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 69 +33.8 secs
8 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 69 +34.4 secs
9 Felipe Massa Ferrari 69 +38.3 secs
10 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 69 +51.2 secs
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 69 +57.2 secs
12 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 69 +62.8 secs
13 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 69 +63.6 secs
14 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 69 +64.4 secs
15 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 68 +1 Lap
16 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 68 +1 Lap
17 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 68 +1 Lap
18 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 67 +2 Laps
19 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 67 +2 Laps
20 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 67 +2 Laps
21 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 66 +3 Laps
22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 66 +3 Laps
Retired Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 60 +9 Laps
Retired Michael Schumacher

Mercedes 58 +11 Laps

Lewis Hamilton won the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2012 and brought an end to a series of DNFs, to make the championship interesting.
Race Summary: 69 laps
Winner: Lewis Hamilton

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Alonso leads the Drivers Championship after German Grand Prix

Alonso leads the Drivers championship after German Grand Prix 2012

Alonso continued his winning ways and now leads the drivers championship with 154 points. Mark Webber despite his low key performance continues at 120 points and in second place. His team mate Sebastian Vettel who was foolish enough to overtake Jenson Button with all four wheels outside the racing line was penalised and demoted to 5th from 2nd position. Else, it would have been pretty close. Kimi Raikkonen is now at 98 points and fourth in the race. Lewis Hamilton who is having a miserable patch continues to be at 92 for the last few races and is now at 5th position.

Michael Schumacher despite his starting grid position of 3rd in the German Grand Prix couldn't add a lot of points to his tally and is now at 29 points and 12th in the race. Realistically the championship race is mostly between the top four drivers now.




Ranking Driver Team Points
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 154
2 Mark Webber Red Bull 120
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 110
4 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 98
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 92
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 76
7 Jenson Button McLaren 68
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 61
9 Sergio Perez Sauber 47
10 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 33
11 Pastor Maldonado Williams 29
12 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 29
13 Paul de Resta Force India 27
14 Felipe Massa Ferrari 23
15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 19
16 Bruno Senna Williams 18
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 4
18 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 2
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 0
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 0
21 Timo Glock Marussia 0
22 Charles Pic Marussia 0
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 0
24 Pedro de La Rosa HRT 0

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Revised classification of German Grand Prix results

Revised Classification of German Grand Prix results


Sebastian Vettel has been penalised by the German Grand Prix stewards for his overtaking of Jenson Button after leaving the track on lap 66 Vettel has been penalised by adding 20 seconds to his time. Accordingly he drops down to 5th. Jenson Button becomes second and Kimi Raikkonen becomes 3rd. Kamui Kobayashi becomes 4th.

The revised Classification for German Grand Prix is as follows:


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



Alonso wins from pole in German Grand Prix 2012

Alonso wins from Pole in German Grand Prix 2102

In a close race, Alonso kept his composure and won despite being challenged at one point by Jenson Button.

In the opening lap, Sebastian Vettel was challenged by Michael Schumacher. However, Alonso and Vettel quickly pulled away and Schumacher appeared to be driving a lone race at No. 3 till Jenson Button appeared in the scene and overtook him. Michael Schumacher used a three stop strategy and finished at 7th position. He posted the fastest lap times at the end after changing into soft tires, however he despite being on the tail of Sergio Perez finished at No. 3.

Sebastian Vettel controversially overtook Jenson Button "off the race track". McLaren team was heard on the radio saying "FIA is away". However, Vettel's overtaking is being investigated by FIA and the result of the investigation will be known later.

India's Narain Karthikeyan finished 23rd. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren etired. With Alonso winning the German Grand Prix, he retains the lead in the drivers championship.


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





Illegal engine mapping by Red Bull team in Hockenheim

Illegal engine mapping by Red Bull in Hockenheim

In the German Grand Prix 2012 in Hockenheim, Red Bull is under investigation for illegal engine mapping. Jo Bauer, steward in Hockenheim said that upon inspection it was found that the Red Bull cars which qualified 2nd and 3rd had different engine characteristics. In the mid rpm range, they had much lower maximum torque levels as compared to other races. This is a clear violation because, FIA had stipulated that engine characteristics cannot be changed from race to race.

Jo Bauer said "in my opinion this is therefore in breech of Article 5.5.3 of the Technical regulations as the engines are able to deliver more torque at a given engine speed in the mid rpm range." He said that the new torque map will artificially alter the aerodynamics of the cars "in contravention of Technical Directive 036-11"

FIA had placed severe restrictions on engine maps after the exhaust-blown diffuser saga. Further information is awaited.

EDIT: After a meeting with Red Bull and Renault representatives and after they examined the ECU data, the stewards of Hockenheim concluded that the map presented doesn't breach the text of the Article 5.5.3. However, the stewards didn't accept all the arguments of the team.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Spaniard Alonso rules in German Qualifying

Spaniard Alonso rules the wet in Formula One German Grand Prix Qualifying


In the 2012 Formula One German Grand Prix qualifying at Hockenheim, Fernando Alonso scored the pole position beating the strong challenge of the German Sebastian Vettel who came second. Another German Michael Schumacher who is often known as the God of Formula One had set the fastest time before others set better times in a slightly drying track.

Mark Webber of Red Bull - an australian was the joker in the pack - and came in P3 ahead of Michael Schumacher. Nico Hulkenberg came in 5th and Pastor Maldonado scored the 6th place. Jenson Button of McLaren for a change outqualified his team mate Lewis Hamilton. They scored 7th and 8 th positions respectively. Paul di Resta of Force India came in 9th and Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus scored the P10 position.

Mark Webber has incurred a 5 place penalty for the race due to a gear box change. So Michael Schumacher will start at 3rd position and Mark Webber will start at 8th place on the grid. This results in three Germans Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg starting at 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions in the German Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher was on the verge of being knocked out in the first segment of the qualifying Q1. He however came 0.055 seconds faster than Jean-Eric Vergne. Michael Schumacher was timed at 1:16.686 to push Jean-Eric Vergne out who was timed at 1:16.741.

In the next segment of the qualifying ie. in Q2 Michael Schumacher's team mate Nico Rosberg came slowest among the 17 drivers. Nico Rosberg was also the only driver who could not break the 1 min 41 second barrier. He was timed at 1:41.551 seconds. It is to be noted that in the Q2 Michael Schumacher was P1 for sometime till Lewis Hamilton took the P1 position from him.

Another huge difference in performance between team mates was seen in Ferrari. While Alonso scored the pole position, his team mate Felipe Massa was 13 positions down at 14th place.

Nico Rosberg too will drop 5 places due to a gear box change and will start at 22nd position. India's Narain Karthikeyan will start at 24th position in his HRT car.  All the cars came within the 107% qualifying time and hence we will see a full grid of 24 cars tomorrow in the Formula One German Grand Prix 2012.

With the track expected to remain dry on sunday, it is going to be an absorbing battle in the Formula One German Grand Prix.


Qualifying position:

Position Name Team Time
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari  1:40.621
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull  1:41.026
3 Mark Webber Red Bull  1:41.496
4 Michael Schumacher Mercedes  1:42.459
5 Nico Hulkenberg Force India  1:43.501
6 Pastor Maldonado Williams  1:43.950
7 Jenson Button McLaren  1:44.113
8 Lewis Hamilton McLaren  1:44.186
9 Paul di Resta Force India  1:44.889
10 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus  1:45.811
Q2
11 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso  1:39.789
12 Sergio Perez Sauber  1:39.933
13 Kamui Kobayashi sauber  1:39.985
14 Felipe Massa Ferrari  1:40.212
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus  1:40.574
16 Bruno Senna Williams  1:40.752
17 Nico Rosberg Mercedes  1:41.551
Q1
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso  1:16.741
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham  1:17.620
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham  1:18.531
21 Charles Pic Marussia  1:19.220
22 Timo Glock Marussia  1:19.291
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT  1:19.912
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT  1:20.230
107% Time  1:20.991


Friday, July 20, 2012

A rare mistake by God of Formula One

A Rare mistake by God of Formula One: Schumacher kisses the barriers


On a wet friday practice, God of Formula One Michael Schumacher spun and hit the barriers in the second practice. Michael Schumacher who had scored a P4 in the first practice, hit the barriers in the second. He conceded that it was his mistake as he was talking with his engineers on the radio while changing some settings and placed the tyre on the white line and the car spun. The car hit the barriers nose first and then the rear hit the barriers.

Michael Schumacher is known to be extremely good in giving feedback about his car while driving. He is reputed to drive as fast as he does even while giving continuos feedback over radio to his engineers. They say he uses half of his brain for driving and the other half for analysing and giving feedback. It is some kind of super human ability. However, in Hockenheim he made a very rare mistake while doing what he effortlessly does all the time.

A rare blip from the God of Formula One.


The weather forecasts suggest that there will be two days of rain followed by a race in dry conditions on sunday. If it is a wet race, then the mercedes will be good.

Michael Schumacher's team mate Nico Rosberg has been hit with a five grid slot penalty as he had to change his gear box.

In the First practice (FP1), Jenson Button was P1 and in the Second Practice (FP2) Pastor Maldonado scored the P1. Hope Maldonado doesn't hit anyone in the race.

Dani Clos of HRT again drove in the FP1 in the place of Narain Karthikeyan and came 24th as predicted with a time of 1:21.740 as against a time of 1:21.138 of Pedro de La Rosa in the FP1. Narain drove in the second practice and came 22nd vis a vis 24 of this team mate Pedro de La Rosa.

On saturday practice, it is to be seen whether the God of Formula One Schumacher kisses the Pole position or not. 

Fernando Alonso leads the Drivers Championship after Silverstone

Drivers Championship Standings after Silverstone


Fernando Alonso retains his lead in the Formula 1 drivers championship after British Grand Prix 2012. Fernando Alonso by virtue of his second place position in Silverstone. He leads with 129 points. Mark Webber won at Silverstone and added 25 points to his tally to remain second at 116 points. Sebastian Vettel is at third position with 100 points. Lewis Hamilton is at 92 points and Kimi Raikkonen at 83. Theoretically anything can happen with this top 5.

Nico Rosberg is at 6th at 75 points. Romain Grosjean, who has been very erratic in the initial races and continue to be so now, has shown pace and has got points to be 7th in the championship race with 61 points.

Pedro de La Rosa of HRT languishes at the 24th spot after his team mate Narain Karthikeyan of India at 23.
Drivers Championship race standings after Silverstone 2012

Ranking Driver Team Points
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 129
2 Mark Webber Red Bull 116
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 100
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 92
5 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 83
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 75
7 Romain Grosjean Lotus 61
8 Jenson Button McLaren 50
9 Sergio Perez Sauber 39
10 Pastor Maldonado Williams 29
11 Paul de Resta Force India 27
12 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 23
13 Felipe Massa Ferrari 23
14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 21
15 Bruno Senna Williams 18
16 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 17
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 4
18 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 2
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 0
20 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 0
21 Timo Glock Marussia 0
22 Charles Pic Marussia 0
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 0
24 Pedro de La Rosa HRT 0

It is to be seen if Fernando Alonso leads the drivers championship after Hockenheim.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Mark Webber 2nd Double winner of the 2012 season

Mark Webber became the 2nd double grand prix winner of the 2012 season after Alonso when he won the British Grand Prix 2012. This race also started with 23 cars, when Vitaly Petrov's car died during the formation lap.

Fernando Alonso may have started on the pole, but it was Mark Webber of Red Bull who had the last laugh when he overtook Alonso using hard tyres towards the end of the race. Alonso had ran away from the other drivers, however, his car didn't have the pace in the option tyres which he used in the last stint. This led to Webber overtaking him in the dying minutes.

Sebastian Vettel finished P3. Felipe Massa who started at P5 gained a place to end at P4. Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were P5 and P6 respectively. Romain Grosjean continued to create an impression of a bull running amok when he hit Paul di Resta of force India.

Michael Schumacher had one of his trademark great starts and was at the tail of Felipe Massa's car ready to overtake him. However, Vettel overtook him during the pit stops. In the changing weather conditions, Schumacher's car faded and he ended at P7. Nico Rosberg had a P17.

Pastor Maldonado incurred a fine of 10,000 euros due to his collision with Sergio Perez and ended at P16. Sergio Perez had to retire due to the collision with Maldonado. Bruno Senna ended in a points scoring position at P9.

Hamilton was P8 and Button at P10. It was good that Button could overtake other drivers and ended in a points coring position.

India's Narain Karthikeyan finished at P21 behind his team mate Pedro de La Rosa of HRT. 

Fernando Alonso on pole in Silverstone

Fernando Alonso or Ferrari scored the first pole for Ferrari since 2010 Singapore Grand Prix and was understandably happy. The qualifying in Silverstone was marred by delays due to rain. He clocked 1 min 51.746 seconds to get the pole position.

Mark Webber (1 min 51.793 s) of Red Bull scored P2 and Michael Schumacher (1 min 52.020 seconds) was P3. Michael Schumacher was also among the many drivers who had spun, but was way ahead of his much younger colleague Nico Rosberg, who ended up at 13th position.

Mark Webber's team mate Sebastian Vettel scored P4. Felipe Massa was P5. Kimi Raikkonen was the faster of the two Lotus cars and came in P6 with a time of 1 min 53.290 seconds. His team mate Romain Grosjean spun his car and was fortunate to make it to the Q3.

Pastor Maldonado was P7 with a time of 1 min 53.590 seconds and his williams team mate Bruno Senna scored P15 with a time of 1 min 57.426 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton was a disappointing P8 with 1 min 53.543 seconds. His team mate, Jenson Button was ten spots down at P18 with a time of 1.48.044 seconds. Both the McLaren cars had problems of getting correct temperatures to their tyres and had a disappointing qualifying. Nico Hulkenberg was P9 and his team mate Paul di Resta was P11.

It was a disappointing qualifying for Sauber team with Kobayashi and Perez at P12 and P17. Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso team were P14 and P16 before penalties.

Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen were P19 and P20. Timo Glock was P21. Pedro de La Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan of HRT were P22 and P23. Charles Pic of Marussia was P24. He was the only driver to fail the 107% rule and was allowed to race at the discretion of the stewards.


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

F1 woman test driver Maria De Villota seriously hurt

Maria De Villota, a test driver in Marussia - a backmarker team in F1 - is seriously injured in an accident. Maria De Villta, the 32 year old spaniard suffered serious injuries while taking part in a straight line test for Marussia.

Marussia was conducting this straightline test in Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire when Maria De Villota crashed into a support truck after completing the first installation lap. After the installation lap, she came to a stop and when her mechanics approached the car, the car suddenly accelerated and crashed into a stationary support truck. The front of the car was completely smashed and her helmet was hit. She is supposed to have remained motionless for about 15 minutes and the first signs of life appeared when she moved her hands while paramedics were trying to shift her to the hospital.

The East of England paramedic spokesman Gary Sanderson was quoted as saying that the driver had "sustained life threatening injuries".

In the recent past, motorsports has struggled with deaths. F1 driver Felipe Massa came out of a life threatening injury when a spring penetrated his visor and he was out of action for half a season. The Marussia team hasn't revealed the data from the Car and the reason for the car suddenly accelerating and hitting a stationary vehicle. Was it plain misjudgement in the part of the driver or did she face any health problem which led to her losing control and accelerating after stopping? Answers to many of these questions will be found later. However, at this moment, the entire F1 community and the people in general will be praying for the speedy recovery of Maria De Villota.





Monday, July 2, 2012

Corruption in F1 Sale

F1 and Corruption


Corruption has to be dealt with using the strongest possible penalties. Unfortunately, in a corruption case in F1 sale, not many companies have come forward to speak against it.

On 27th June, Gerhard Gribkowsky was convicted by a German Court as it was found that he has taken 44 million USD in bribe from Bernie Ecclestone for the sale of F1 and failing to pay tax on that 44 million USD. Gerhard Gribkowsky was the risk manager in Bayern Landesbank and played a key role in the sale of F1 to Bernie Ecclestone's favourite candidate. At this point of time Bernie Ecclestone faces no charges as the case was limited to tax fraud. Bernie Ecclestone was reported to have submitted to the court that he was blackmailed to pay the money. German Chief Prosecutor Christoph Rodler had told the court that "Ecclestone was not a victim of blackmail, rather a co-perpetrator in bribery." He had further said that "Gribkowsky did not receive a consultant fee, rather bribery payments" from Bernie Ecclestone.

Unfortunately, despite this case going on for sometime, the F1 teams didn't speak out against corruption. Now for the first time after the formal conviction of Gerhard Gribkowsky, Daimler group has come strongly spoken out and have demanded a thorough enquiry.

Since Bernie Ecclestone controls the F1 with a very strong hand, he is not likely to agree to a thorough probe into the events surrounding the sale of F1 by Bayern LB. It is reported in a German paper Handelsblatt that Daimler has said "does not tolerate the immoral or corrupt practices of its employees or its business partners." It may so happen that Daimler who owns the Mercedes team may pull out of F1.

Daimler coming out strongly against corruption will also enhance its reputation, especially in the developing countries where the perception is that companies from developed countries blame third world countries like India and China for corruption but themselves do nothing to stop it. It appears finally a company is walking the talk as far as corruption is concerned.

The last word on this issue is yet to be spoken on F1 and corruption...