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.

For Galahads supreme circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/yas-marina-circuit/
 
Only under 2 days to go until first practice session in Abu Dhabi! Very excited about this race, it may not be alot of peoples cup of tea but i like the race. Plus looking forward to seeing GP2 from Abu Dhabi on Eurosport aswell this weekend :).
 
What fenderman said, but long straights seem to nullify DRS because by the time it is activated the car is already on on the rev limiter and cannot gain anymore speed as was shown at Monza, Lou against schu.

I say ban it for next year I never liked it in the first place.
 
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Vettel on pole, Hamilton second.

Hamilton charges past Vettel into the first corner but Vettel takes the place back on lap 2 and disappears into the distance, while Lewis tries to keep up.
Fernando will drive a quiet race but somehow end up in third, after being stuck behind a Russian backmarker for a few laps while Jenson is catching up with him.
Mark will end up in fifth while wondering why he's not as fast as the other Red Bull.
Massa ends in sixth place after cutting across Rosberg while defending, Rosberg meanwhile is a few seconds behind him in seventh, is pissed off with Massa and decides to put him into a spin on the outlap. Alguersuari will start way back in 18th but end up in 8th thanks to his tyres and some good overtaking, Schumacher is in ninth because he was scared he was going to get nearly decapitated again, Perez meanwhile will somehow manage to drive the entire race on 2 sets of tires while everyone else had to do atleast 2 stops, this will lead to accusations of his car being a hovercraft in disguise.
Trulli beats Kovalainen, Ricciardo beats Liuzzi and the Virgins.

These are my predictions. You heard it here first, folks.
 
long straights seem to nullify DRS because by the time it is activated the car is already on on the rev limiter and cannot gain anymore speed as was shown atMonza, Lou against schu.
Well that's just down to how the teams decide to set their gear ratios. McLaren weren't expecting to be racing Mercedes on track, they were expecting to be racing the Red Bulls (well at least Vettel) whose top speed in qualifying was slowest of the cars. That said, during their battle at Monza Hamilton did actually overtake Schumacher using DRS on the main straight on lap 13 but then Schumcher re-passed him round turn 3.

Back to the topic, although every type of track now seems to be a Red Bull track I'm predicting a win from pole fromHamiltonas long as he stays away fromMassa. Vettel second. Button third.
 
The things that stand out for me on that time sheet(and I know its only practice) is Grosjean quicker than Petrov by a full half second and Vergne only being 3 tenths slower than Alguersauri.

Theres a couple of drivers upping their game for a seat next year

Oh and Virgins trounced by HRT!
 
Is there a race this weekend?
Everyone's forgotten about! Just had a look at "chat" and (on my PC at least) it's got nothing after 31st October. Where is everybody? Oh, at work perhaps? that's where I would be if I wasn't :sick:!

Edit ... ah, now I've got Wednesday - Brogan says "testing upgraded software". Maybe it's something at my end ...
 
There was a lot going on in practice today, with experimental yellow tyres being run and not the real yellow ones that will be the option tyre this weekend. The white tyre was quite slow (Hemberey predicted 1.2s a lap) but really long (30 laps). The option is still predicted to go 20 laps, so he said 2 stops with some trying 1 (55 lap race).

My guess is that the option tyre deg is going to be really low, and peak performance may even be some laps in, especially as the track cools during the race. I don't like this white tyre much and I think maybe even Mercedes are going to have to use the option in Q1, but given their longevity, that might not hurt much.

DRS is going to be massive though with two long zones with a chicane in between them. Fortunately, the second detection zone is after the end of the first one :thumbsup:

A couple of very strange spins from Vettel, Massa and Alonso in turn 1 who all lost it turning it at various times. Also Massa's front wing was flapping just like in India. Strangely, Alonso's wasn't, although it did seem like it was being "sucked into the track" at high speed. When he turned, it was like there was more initial roll in the suspension than in the wing (the wing remaining more parallel to the ground than the car, and definitely still quite low).

They have had to put metal skidplates on the underside of the endplates for when they do scrape along the ground. Someone should have told them that fireworks was last weekend, because Massa's car was a bit like a 200 mph two-pronged sparkler on the main straight.

There are obviously some loopholes being tested here. The FIA haven't said no, so does that mean yes? :dunno:
 
Everyone's forgotten about! Just had a look at "chat" and (on my PC at least) it's got nothing after 31st October. Where is everybody? Oh, at work perhaps? that's where I would be if I wasn't :sick:!

Edit ... ah, now I've got Wednesday - Brogan says "testing upgraded software". Maybe it's something at my end ...

I thought you would be over that by now! I was half expecting a phone call when Sebastian flew off the track... :blink:
 
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