Grand Prix 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

This one's gonna be a classic.......

After the utterly amazing Indian Grand Prix where it's facilities wowed pretty much everyone worldwide and to be honest we are so lucky to have an Indian Grand Prix at the moment........

Thats would you would think if you were the BBC or any major commentator, for the fans it was a pretty dour race with little or no action throughout apart from the now routine crash between Hamilton and Massa and the rather humerous reaction of Rowan Atkinson in the Mclaren pitlane.

Sebastian Vettel continues to dominate the 2011 season with yet another win in the old jewel of the British Empire with Button consolidating his position in the WDC with another second place as his stock at Mclaren continues to rise.

However at the other side of the garage things aren't quite so rosy with Hamilton adding to his list of high profile accidents which included yet another crash with Felipe Massa. But this time it was Massa who was given a penalty as it was perceived by the stewards that he had turned in on the Mclaren, a decision which bemused the Brazilian as he felt he had given Hamilton enough room and he had the racing line, but both sides (and fans) have differing opinions and a definitive answer is unlikely to come any time soon.

Ferrari and Alonso continue to go through the motions as they wind down and focus on their 2012 after a poor season by their standards, while the car hasn't been awful like their 2009 car, Fernando is rarely anywhere other than third or fourth come the chequered flag. Ferrari have been a team that has been caught out my the ever changing EBD rules and clarity over this for 2012 should help them regain top end competitiveness at the start of next season.

In the midfield it is still close as drivers are fighting for championship places and also contract extensions as very little has been agreed for 2012 although we are now in November and approaching the second last race of a very long season. At Toro Rosso Jaime Alguesuari continued his impressive turnaround with yet more points in India to take his season haul to 26, more than Paul Di Resta and 11 more than his team mate Buemi which could be crucial with the likes of Ricciardo waiting in the wings for a possible seat and there is always the possibility of a Red Bull seat at some point in the future as there is still a question mark about Webbers future, particularly past 2012.

We go to Abu Dhabi for the third time and while the first two races have been pretty lacklustre with a lack of action and overtaking (just ask Alonso), with DRS maybe we might have more this weekend, but then, we can only hope really, just like we can hope Vettel isn't top of the podium by Sunday evening, but that usually ends up to be false hope as I expect another dominating performance from the young German.

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Here is the history:

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I reckon Vettel will get pole and go off in the lead.

Jenson will rise from about 4th on the grid to second within the first few laps and after Vettel gets a five seond lead start to keep pace with him but never really catching him but pulling away from Mark Webber.

After a bad start/grid penalty/mistake in qualifying Lewis Hamilton will start to recover his race by pulling off a pretty good overtake on Nico Rosberg - he'll then set off down the road after Webber and the Ferrari's

Webber and Alonso will start to slowly drop Massa

Hamilton will catch Massa and everyone will say 'surely they can't hit each other again' - then they'll hit each other. One of them will have damage and have to pit whilst the other will recieved a penalty.

After the last pitstop Alonso will either pull off and overtake on Webber or Webber will pull off an overtake on Alonso depending on which way round they are.

Schumacher will have had a great start from 15th to 9th or something and then will either collide with Petrov and have to go for a new nose or gradually pull time back on Rosberg and get him before the end.

Button will start to close Vettel in the last stint and everyone will get really excited

Vettel will wait until Button is within 1.5 seconds, laugh and then put his foot down making the fastest lap of the race on his last lap and taking another victory.

The BBC forum will spend 30 mins discussing what is wrong with Lewis Hamilton and will conclude that he's never been the same since he lost that sandwich toaster he had shaped like a cow that used to moo when the toasties were done.

Just my predictions.
 
Another Red Bull showcase in the offing. David Coulthard will barley be able to control himself as Seb disappears into the distance and all the hyperbole about how is "one of the greatest drivers of all time" will start to be thrown about. Yeah, he's good, but he ain't that good.

Is this the place with Ferrari World? How embarrassing for the Scuderia...

Just in case Lewis and Felipe get close to one another again this race could these be a good idea?

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Ferrari have done particularly badly in front of their own rollercoasters for the last two years.

Another Red Bull showcase in the offing. David Coulthard will barley be able to control himself as Seb disappears into the distance and all the hyperbole about how is "one of the greatest drivers of all time" will start to be thrown about. Yeah, he's good, but he ain't that good.

...yet.
 
While Vettel's won both the previous races it's worth remembering that Hamilton looked very good for the win in 2009 until his brakes let him down. I seem to remember he qualified around 6 tenths in front of Vettel with like 5 laps more fuel and in the race was still matching Vettel's lap times until the brakes finally failed.

McLaren were also quite close to Red Bull here last year, with Hamilton less than a tenth of Vettel on Saturday although I think this might have been due to an updated f-duct McLaren brought to the race.

All in all you would have to fvaour Vettel for the win but don't count McLaren and possibly even Ferrari out yet.
 
Button's never been too shabby round this one either - hounded Webber to the end in 09 and kept with Lewis all the way in 10 - whilst I can't see him beating the invincable Red Bulls but I'd pencil him in for a podium if all goes to plan.
 
Just my predictions.

I predict that things will shake out a little differently.

Vettel will struggle in qualifying, pipped to 3rd place by his team mate. Webber will go on to have a brilliant start, taking the lead and building a substantial margin over the field. He will have the HRTs to thank for jumping out of his way as soon as they see him coming to lap them.

Meanwhile, Hamilton and Massa will race wheel-to-wheel for a number of laps, each being generous with the space he gives to his opponent. After being told over the radio to let Massa pass him, Alonso will try to hang on to the back of these two but will struggle for pace and may damage his car after attacking the curbs too vigorously.

Jenson will take pole by half a second from Hamilton, but will be hamstrung in the race by an ill-advised tyre change during a rare Middle Eastern rain shower.

Further back, Schumacher’s impressive qualifying will be squandered as he concedes places to Alguersuari and Kobayashi at the start. At a later stage in the race he will offer little resistance to overtaking manoeuvres in the midfield scrap, seemingly reluctant to risk contact with his front wing.

The BBC forum will be uneventful, apart from Eddie Jordan’s attempts to prevent Jake from asking provocative questions of Martin Whitmarsh.
 
I reckon Vettel will get pole and go off in the lead.

Jenson will rise from about 4th on the grid to second within the first few laps and after Vettel gets a five seond lead start to keep pace with him but never really catching him but pulling away from Mark Webber.

After a bad start/grid penalty/mistake in qualifying Lewis Hamilton will start to recover his race by pulling off a pretty good overtake on Nico Rosberg - he'll then set off down the road after Webber and the Ferrari's

Webber and Alonso will start to slowly drop Massa

Hamilton will catch Massa and everyone will say 'surely they can't hit each other again' - then they'll hit each other. One of them will have damage and have to pit whilst the other will recieved a penalty.

After the last pitstop Alonso will either pull off and overtake on Webber or Webber will pull off an overtake on Alonso depending on which way round they are.

Schumacher will have had a great start from 15th to 9th or something and then will either collide with Petrov and have to go for a new nose or gradually pull time back on Rosberg and get him before the end.

Button will start to close Vettel in the last stint and everyone will get really excited

Vettel will wait until Button is within 1.5 seconds, laugh and then put his foot down making the fastest lap of the race on his last lap and taking another victory.

The BBC forum will spend 30 mins discussing what is wrong with Lewis Hamilton and will conclude that he's never been the same since he lost that sandwich toaster he had shaped like a cow that used to moo when the toasties were done.

Just my predictions.

India was a real snapshot of the 2011 season wasn't it...
 
Anyone want my completly unbiased prediction?!

Vettel will take a 2nd place with Lewis on Pole

Lewis and Vettel will make contact in the 1st lap, causing Vettel to lose his front wing

Vettel shall pit but only after being overtook by Webber Alonso and Button

But who's in the lead?
Well after an awesome qualy of 5th place! Michael will jump them all into the 1st corner and streak clear, until lap 3 when DRS comes into play

Lewis will lead but Michael will hold up Jenson until the safety car comes out when Jenson is penalised for overtaking under waved yellows

Alonso will inherit his place with Webber close behind

Lewis will come up to lap a punctured massa who swerves right infront of Lewis, but only results in his spinning himself

Massa will lose his superlicense and place at ferrari

Meanwhile in the Midfield, the saubers, Force India's, and Petrov will all have a massive collision coming into the hairpin, all retiring and bringing the SC

Lotus will take the fight to the toro rosso's and win their 1st point with Heikki

Top 10: Hammy, Schumi, Alonso, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Buemi, Senna, Algusauri, Kovalainen

Vettel is 0.097 behind Heikki at the finish in P11

And then Eddie decides that Michael was right to be in the Merc, Martin and DC have a cake fight and Jake walks into a low riding banner advertising India!

P.S: Lewis gets a 5 place grid penalty for impeding the line of another car while avoiding Massa, the car was Glock!
P.S again: No futher action on the incident involvind the pile up at the hairpin
P.S again for the last time: 5 place grid penalty for Car 3, not slowing enough for the yellow flags
:)
 
Isn't this a twilight race?

Yep this race starts in the light and finishes in the dark. Which is why i like this race and tbh it's not fair that it gets the stick it does. It's a much better track than Bahrain and Valencia alike.

Would love Button to win this and Hamilton to finish 2nd and give Mclaren a much needed 1-2 fingers-crossed :D.
Also would be nice to see a Mercedes on the poduim, so i'll be routing for Nico or Michael to finish 3rd.
 
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