129 replies to this topic

[Massa]

I'm impressed with Vettel.  New track, even playing field, slick surface, that fast...wow.  I don't know what program everyone's on or whatever, but still, cool.

Cooler?

Varsha and Windsor talking about Chris Economacki.  This is good stuff.  Thanks, George.

[Rainmaster]

The word after practice is that we're not likely to see much overtaking around here, which sounds right to me given the track layout. In terms of strategy, apparently there won't be much variation because Pirelli admit they have been conservative in tyre choice (who can blame them ) - one stoppers all round perhaps? I imagine Ferrari are hoping those things are not the case, whereas Red Bull probably wouldn't mind.

It'll be a shame if F1's return to America produces a really boring race. I don't say that in a stereotypical way. I don't think the Americans need lots of passing, crashes and drama to hold their attention to the race; I think lack of overtaking and lack of strategy variation is a recipe for a dull race, by most people's standards. In any case I'm sure most of the people going are F1 connoisseurs anyway, and can accept that. But for the wider American (TV) audience, it'd be nice to see a more interesting race than say, Korea. If only because Korea just wasn't reflective of how interesting and entertaining this season has been, so if somebody only tuned in for that race they just wouldn't know how good F1 has been this season.

Then again, maybe nobody will be tuning in considering they scheduled this race to coincide with the Nascar finale

Edited by Rainmaster, 17 November 2012 - 02:22 AM.

[Massa]

Yeah.

I guess I don't expect a significantly larger TV audience.  I don't consume tons of news media, but there wasn't much national promotion for this event as far as I saw.  The race is still on SPEED, a well-distributed cable network, but still a cable network that has a (large) niche and not much else.  So, I don't know how many non-F1 fans will be watching.

The only promotion I've seen for F1 in the U.S. on a national level (there were ads in the papers all over Texas; I kept one in my desk for no reason other than I found it odd) has been on NBC, promoting the 2013 season as they take over the TV rights then.  It's been pretty weird to see ads for "F1: starting in March" when there are still rounds to be run this year.

[freaky2]

Oh, interesting, no one here. I just realised qualy was on (yay for me xD) and my first reaction has been "WHAT?".

Alonso 9th in Q2 while Massa 3rd, hope Q3 gets that reversed. On the same note, Grosjean is 5th and Kimi 10th... argh XD

Vettel half a second clear of the rest of the field, how many times will he lap them if it's the same difference in the race?

[freaky2]

OK, I must bow low to whoever said 6 cars would be between Vettel and Alonso, he was even being generous. Let's see what the race has to show us xDD

[HandyNZL]

Webber will be pleased that Hamilton got P2...puts him (Webber) onto the sticky side of the grid...expect Hamilton to be in about fifth place by turn one...

[BradSpeedMan]

sssooo King Vettel triumphs!!!!!!!!!!!


All hail the king!!!!!!!!


Alonso down in 9th, has to start praying for a miracle or mechanical failure for Vettel...otherwise......

Edited by BradSpeedMan, 17 November 2012 - 07:09 PM.

[BradSpeedMan]

HandyNZL, on 17 November 2012 - 07:04 PM, said:

Webber will be pleased that Hamilton got P2...puts him (Webber) onto the sticky side of the grid...expect Hamilton to be in about fifth place by turn one...

lol, yeah, he was really complaining about that

[BradSpeedMan]

Alonso has Grosjean and Maldo behind him... should be fun 2morrow!!!

[BradSpeedMan]

Schumacher starts fifth.. good show for the old man

[LabradoRacer]

Exceedingly happy with Schumi's quali show.

Not a surprise to see Vettel on pole, but props to Hamilton for wringing the neck out of that car. Meanwhile, Macca continue to flounder. Anyway, even if they hadn't Button would have qualified 4th at best. He simply doesn't have the pace that Hamilton does.

Strong quali by Lotus. Seems I was wrong about Kimi not getting a podium.

Alonso's starting 8th. Didn't Webber say even side of track will be difficult?

No idea why Grosjean's being penalized.

[BradSpeedMan]

LabradoRacer, on 17 November 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

Alonso's starting 8th. Didn't Webber say even side of track will be difficult?

YEP

LabradoRacer, on 17 November 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

No idea why Grosjean's being penalized.

gearbox penalty

Edited by BradSpeedMan, 17 November 2012 - 07:13 PM.

[BradSpeedMan]

So..100th race for Vettel, topped all of FP, took pole, if he makes it another win 2morrow what an achievement...he is the guy for statistics anyway...brilliant stuff!!!!


lovely lovely

Edited by BradSpeedMan, 17 November 2012 - 07:20 PM.

[LabradoRacer]

Wow, Hamilton lost out in the final sector by 0.2. He was faster in the first two. Interesting.

[Massa]

82,710 spectators attended qualifying today.  That's very impressive, though I think we all know year two attendance will be the telling figures.

One of those 82,710?  Governor Rick Perry, who ran for a presidential nomination last year but ultimately lost.  According to Adam Cooper on Twitter, Governor Perry saw the "Pepe Jeans" logo on Christian Horner's shirt and said, "nice to meet you, Pepe."

Vettel and Red Bull do it again, great job from them.  Alonso's really done a lot from down the field, but you can only produce so much magic, especially with these tire compounds.  If Alonso survives turn one, I guess anything can happen, but I think we'll be looking at a very deserving three-time champion tomorrow as Alonso comes home fifth or worse.

[HandyNZL]

Massa, on 17 November 2012 - 10:42 PM, said:

82,710 spectators attended qualifying today.  That's very impressive, though I think we all know year two attendance will be the telling figures.

One of those 82,710?  Governor Rick Perry, who ran for a presidential nomination last year but ultimately lost.  According to Adam Cooper on Twitter, Governor Perry saw the "Pepe Jeans" logo on Christian Horner's shirt and said, "nice to meet you, Pepe."

Vettel and Red Bull do it again, great job from them.  Alonso's really done a lot from down the field, but you can only produce so much magic, especially with these tire compounds.  If Alonso survives turn one, I guess anything can happen, but I think we'll be looking at a very deserving three-time champion tomorrow as Alonso comes home fifth or worse.

Expect harassment in 3, 2, 1.....

[freaky2]

If he leaves it at "deserving" I won't harass him

[JHS18]

Massa, on 17 November 2012 - 10:42 PM, said:

One of those 82,710?  Governor Rick Perry, who ran for a presidential nomination last year but ultimately lost.  According to Adam Cooper on Twitter, Governor Perry saw the "Pepe Jeans" logo on Christian Horner's shirt and said, "nice to meet you, Pepe."

Reminds me of the story from last year when Geri Halliwell turned up to the Monaco Grand Prix and asked Adrian Newey whether he was one of the guys who changed the tyres...

I'm not expecting carnage at the start despite what everyone else thinks. It'll be a clean start. But I am expecting that the championship will be mathematically over by the end of the race for Alonso, or only a point or two away from being so.

But Alonso's often produced magic on race day, so we'll see. Red Bull have had to go back to their dodgy 2012 spec alternators for this race, so it isn't a forgone conclusion.

Not expecting a thriller if I'm honest. Don't think the track will lead itself to lots of overtaking, and the overly conservative tyres mean there won't be much strategy either.

Edited by JHS18, 18 November 2012 - 12:01 AM.

[KoolMonkey]

I only got a short glimpse of qualy, but was amazed at the track turnout. That place was packed to the hilt! I don't recall Turkey, China, Korea or any of those "new" circuits being packed like that. There was still vast empty stands. This is great for F1. Finally a good outcome for once for the US GP. I hated the Indy track and could never work out why they went there. If anything they should have just gone around the oval and let it be a unique race in the series.

Looking forward to the race. I can see already they aren't doing very well in showing us the elevation changes, but hopefully in time they will sort that out.

[Massa]

Yeah, the road course at Indianapolis is a pretty lame circuit.  Still, attendance was great there, too; over 100,000 for the races until 2006 and 2007.  Of course, that's under half full at the Speedway.  The drop was due to the 2005 race with six cars, but you know, I'm not sure why it made a difference.  Only nine cars finished in 2004 and 2006, so what makes a nine-car race any better than one with six?

Anyway, I hope I'll be surprised with something interesting.  I also hope I'll be surprised and find the time to watch it.

[BradSpeedMan]

JHS18, on 18 November 2012 - 12:00 AM, said:

Red Bull have had to go back to their dodgy 2012 spec alternators for this race, so it isn't a forgone conclusion.

What???? R u sure?????

[Quiet One]

I wouldn't brag so much about attendance figures of the USGP and compare it with places like China and Turkey...

1) This is the first year for a new venue. Turkey was a huge success in their first year(s) as well. Considering that there wasn't even a hint of a Turkish driverthat's no smal feat. Ditto for Abu Dhani or Bahrein. Let's see how it goes.Besides, those countries have no tradition on any motorsport wahtsoever, unlike USA where ppl watches every kind of motorsport crappy variant they can imagine. From a country that can make a nation wide league of almost anything with wheels and an engine, the fact that people comes to watch a new addition such as F1 is not too telling unless it is really considered different from the USA K-Mart Shopping Cart (World)Series . If it is perceived just as a filler between NASCAR races, then it might make money, but will never be considered nothing more.

2) At least 50% of those attendants (and probably a great deal more) is Mexican/Venezuelan public. Even the Mexican President went there and said it was a Mexican GP, albeit one held in Austin. I wonder what will happen if Perez doesn't make it or if Maldonado leaves. Or simply when they stop being a novelty in their respective countries.

3) I have a serious tooth ache, I can barely see what I'm writing. I hope the race is entertaining and the pain killers I was given until my dentist appointment let me enjoy it with half my wits at least!

[JHS18]

BradSpeedMan, on 18 November 2012 - 05:14 AM, said:

What???? R u sure?????

Yep. Since Monza they've been using 2011 spec which were fine, but apparently they've had to change back because they had too much mileage on them. So will be using them here, and in one week at Brazil.

[BradSpeedMan]

JHS18, on 18 November 2012 - 12:21 PM, said:

Yep. Since Monza they've been using 2011 spec which were fine, but apparently they've had to change back because they had too much mileage on them. So will be using them here, and in one week at Brazil.

I see.......ok, this is going to be pretty stressfull for me, hope Vettel gets the championship this race

[BradSpeedMan]

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA THIS IS JUST BRILLIANT, someone suggested this on jamesallen's site, and yes, I won't be suprised if they put this one through!!!


http://www.totalf1.c...Massas_gearbox/


Massa, the ultimate g-pig!!!! Shame on the poor little guy, shame on the sport that a team has to push thru a driver this way to gain some places and advantage... I actually hope that they go through with this, I would'nt expect anything less

[freaky2]

That reminds me of RBR pitting Webber in the last race, a lap or 2 after telling him to let Vettel through. The closer we get to end of season the more pressure on the teams to use team orders and also an increased paranoia in the fans of conspiracy theories. So what will be our conclusion if Massa starts 6th and doesn't finish the race because of a broken gearbox? Just asking, to cover the 2% chance of that happening

[BradSpeedMan]

freaky2, on 18 November 2012 - 05:12 PM, said:

That reminds me of RBR pitting Webber in the last race, a lap or 2 after telling him to let Vettel through. The closer we get to end of season the more pressure on the teams to use team orders and also an increased paranoia in the fans of conspiracy theories. So what will be our conclusion if Massa starts 6th and doesn't finish the race because of a broken gearbox? Just asking, to cover the 2% chance of that happening

it seems to be confirmed....

http://www.totalf1.c..._to_clean_side/

[Rainmaster]

Lot of people on the Twitter interwebs making out as if the penalty is confirmed. Apparently what Ferrari intend to do is just break the seal on Massa's gearbox to incur a penalty, seemingly for no other reason than Alonso's benefit. On the one hand, this seems like a really smart tactic and why not do everything you can to help Alonso, by putting him to the clean side of the grid? On the other, seems like a completely tasteless use of team orders (going even further than normal team orders, arguably) and doesn't sit too well with me. My biggest issue with this is that it just seems way too "cute", and getting too clever like this has a tendency of backfiring horribly.

[BradSpeedMan]

Rainmaster, on 18 November 2012 - 05:23 PM, said:

My biggest issue with this is that it just seems way too "cute", and getting too clever like this has a tendency of backfiring horribly.

and backfire it will !!!

I actually can't believe that they would be so dumb and actually go thru with this..... shows the desperation....

[BradSpeedMan]

Pitpass's last 2 paragraphs sums it up nicely...

http://www.pitpass.c...-a-grid-penalty