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/
 
The difference has been consistent throughout FP too.
FP1
HAM 315.6
WEB 313.0
VET 312.3
MAS 312.2
ALO 312.2
BUT 311.6

FP2
HAM 315.7
ALO 313.4
MAS 313.4
WEB 313.1
VET 312.8
BUT 311.6

FP3
HAM 315.6
MAS 313.9
ALO 313.2
BUT 311.6
WEB 308.9
VET 308.3

QUAL
HAM 316.2
ALO 313.8
MAS 313.4
BUT 311.8
WEB 308.9
VET 308.5

Very consistent trap speeds for the drivers, except for the noticeable shift in the two Red Bull cars for the Saturday sessions FP3/Qual, presumably changing set-up to a higher downforce one.

Webber's race will come undone if he has another one of his wonder starts and gets stuck behind the Mercedes (317 kp/h)

Hmm, how strange. Nothing has really been mentioned about it. I'm pretty sure they are using the same rear wing and front-wing, so I don't see how that could be the case, but maybe we'll find out! I'll try ask McLaren on twitter before the race tomorrow.
 
Win finger part 1. Part 2 to follow around 3pm tomorrow LOL

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All this talk of Lewis being held up. come on guys. the time he set in Q2 which was a pole-beater was knocked out whilst he was staring at the gearbox of Fernando's slower Ferrari. Get real.
 
it really is a shame lewis couldnt replicate his q2 time in q3.maybe coming out behind alonso had something to do with that.
anyway well done to vettel for getting yet another pole.
 
Alonso's cheeky move ahead of Lewis in Q3 might or might not have affected his result. Yes leaving the pit first might have resulted in avoiding this but then McLaren are not generally known for clever planning of quali runs
Anyway Lewis did not make any real mistakes and just wasn't able to go faster than he did in Q2.
Hopefully he will suddenly have surprisingly good race pace right from the start of the race
 
I'm confused how Barrichello is 23rd on the grid and Maldonado 24th.

Barrichello didn't even set a time and therefore DNQ so only races at the stewards' discretion.
 
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