Grand Prix 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

At one stage of this season it looked like we could have had a Championship battle as close as 2010 if not closer, but after Sebastian Vettel's 4th victory in a row, it appears that he has a third title in three years in the bag. A determined second from Alonso limited the damage, but he has to finish ahead of Vettel at almost all the remaining races to take his own third championship, and at this moment in time, that appears very difficult with the pace of the Red Bull.

Despite the hype, India once again delivered an underwhelming race with Vettel taking his second win at the track and at a canter as he was rarely troubled throughout the race, only late troubles with the 'tea-tray' threatened to derail his victory but this was but a minor bump on the road and from looking a distant contender after an alternator failure at Monza but since then he's taken 100 points from 100 available to completely change the face of the Championship, it feels like 2011 all over again.

It shows how quickly F1 can change that until lap 23 in Singapore, it seemed like McLaren would take their 4th win in 4 races and that Hamilton would close the gap to Alonso and increase his chances of a second world title. But a gearbox failure and suspension problems (and astroturf) in Japan and Korea evaporated any chances he has and he looks forward to a fresh start at Mercedes next year. From having the quickest car at that point, it seems that McLaren were unable to stop the Red Bull onslaught that has pretty much wrapped the championship up in one sharp autumn burst, the only thing that can stop it is if Red Bull's reliability problems rear it's head again and I feel that this is Alonso's best chance of overhauling Vettel's ever increasing lead.

But Abu Dhabi is a track where Red Bull have been strong at, Vettel won in 2009 and 2010, and qualified on pole in 2011 but a first lap puncture prevented him from probably making that three wins in a row, however he might not have won in 2009 where Hamilton had to retire from the lead with brake problems. McLaren themselves have been strong here in the past with both Hamilton and Button on the podium for them in 2010 and 2011 (Button has been third every single year at the track as he finished there in 2009 for Brawn). But their championship hopes, both in the WDC and the WCC are over after a poor last 4 races which took them out of contention.

However, if 2012 has shown us anything, it's that nothing is certain. After Germany it seemed that nothing was going to stop Alonso from taking a third world championship and for various reasons, his formidable lead has been wiped out. The updates Ferrari made for recent races has ensured that he can fight for the podium, but he'll need extra if he is to take the title, whether Ferrari can do that or not remains to be seen, but after the mistakes of 2010 where they lost the title, they will not want to see another title slip through their grasp, another failure will not look good on Domenecali, and it is very probable that Luca de Montezemelo would see it as a failure if Alonso doesn't win the championship this year.

Abu Dhabi circuit write up - http://cliptheapex.com/pages/yas-marina-circuit/

 

[Slyboogy]

What a great race!

First time this season I got to watch a race live, and it was the best one of the season in my view!

First of all, I've got say, I feel sorry for Hamilton. I'm not a fan of his as many here know, but this season he has been robbed and it's a real shame, as he definitely should be in the title hunt if it wasn't for at least half of the problems he's had. But it did make the race a little more exciting aswell.

Finally! Finally Kimi and Lotus win a race! After being hyped for nearly every Grand Prix from the start to the middle of the season to win, they've finally gone and done it when know thought they would. Aided by Hamilton's retirement, but nevertheless drove fantastically. Got a great start and got up into second and was keeping Hamilton honest. Some quality radio responses by him, and raced hard too the finish keeping a charging Alonso at bay.

With Vettel down in last, this was Fernando's chance to close the gap, that he did, but only by 3 points. With Hamilton retiring, Vettel starting from the pitlane, Webber's poor performance, and Button being average, certainly helped his cause, and he took it. Could have had the win if the race was 5 laps longer (we've said that a few times this season), but second was the best he could do, and with qualifying looking bad, a podium is a welcome suprise, done what he's done all season, hanged in there.

Starting from the pitlane and with 1 stop strategy being the norm, it was looking pretty bad for Vettel, low end points looked hard too achieve. Damaged his front wing, and then as you always get behind a safety car, a driver nearly running into another while warming up, did well to avoid Ricciardo, looked to be on the back foot. But he put in an awesome middle stint bringing him into play, but was of course aided by two safety cars, and retirements. Nevertheless, 3rd from the back of the field is a great to achieve, a great overtake on Button, must be very happy being on the podium and limited the damage Alonso could have done to his lead.

Ah, anonymous Button. Where was he this weekend? Totally outclassed by his team-mate, and seemed average all round. Looked to be challenging for second though and hassling Alonso before the second safety car came out. But after that was just falling behind and lost third to Vettel.

Have to say I feel sorry for Maldonado, he certainly could have had a podium today, if it wasn't for the KERS failure, yes he finished fifth, but that mainly because of the incidents ahead and Massa spinning. Still raced well and kept up with the leaders until the KERS failure, and put in a mighty qualifying performance, with all those incidents you would have expected him to be involved in at least one

A nice result for Kobayashi and Sauber, started from 15th, and kept his nose clean compared to the majority if not all midfield runners, a good finish for him, and Sauber close in on Mercedes who haven't score a point for the last 4 races.

Massa, missing some upgrades, was doing well until Webber did the damage, how he spun I don't know, could have finished well if it wasn't for that mistake.

Good recovery by Senna although aided by the safety car like Vettel, still in the lower end of the points.

Some points for di Resta, but was lucky to survive the first lap incident after he moved across on his team mate and 2 other cars.

Ricciardo is doing what all the Toro Rosso drivers have been doing since 2009, getting low end points in a race like this, as it's the best they can do, since the car isn't that competitive.

Webber was abysmal, worse than he was last year. Caught up in three incidents, two being his fault, and how he didn't get a penalty for the incidents with Massa or Maldonado I don't know, but he was at fault with the Maldonado one, maybe it's because he spun and Maldonado got no damage. He clearly cut the chicane to pass Massa, didn't give the place back, so should have got a penalty, although Massa did understeer into him causing him to go off. Didn't have the pace, was poor all round.

Schumacher must be hoping to retire now.

Big incident with Rosberg and Khartikeyan, woow! Was that mega! Luckily they both survived, that was scary.

Overall, without a doubt the best race of the season for me, mainly because unlike Valencia, tyres were not as crucial, and we saw cars at it throughout the race. We had some incidents, some failures, more importantly real racing (apart from the DRS) .Also a fight for the lead, funny moments (which is rare), some drama with Vettel.

And for once action throughout the whole grand prix, never a dull moment!

 

[Boyle]

I don't see why people are complaining so much about Red Bull. Mclaren could have done the same thing with Hamilton at Spain but their inability to think outside the box and on their feet meant they either didn't see it as an option or thought it was too risky. I wonder if people would have taken a different view had they done so and the boot was on the other foot. Anyway, it was an excellent decision by RBR.

What they did was entirely within the regulations and maybe it should be them that need to be changed.

 

[Brogan]

Well said Boyle.
I have a feeling quite a few posters would be singing a different tune if that was the case.

 

[Brogan]

Sigh...still no news from the stewards on the Grosjean-Webber incident, over three hours after the race has finished.
So the results are still provisional which means I'm not going to waste my time updating everything only to have to do it again if the results change.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I still can't quite believe Webber didn't get a penalty with this incident, when he re-joined the track forcing Massa to take avoiding action.

 

[Westy]

A great race. Red Bull once again show they are the class of the field. I don't agree with how they do it sometimes, but they always seem to find a way to get the job done. They always know how to get the most out of the regulations. Furthermore, Vettel showed today that he is a fantastic racer. Yes he got caught up in some incidents but I think this just goes to show how much of a competitor her is.

Unlucky for Hamilton today. But let's not jump on McLaren and say how they cost Hamilton the win again. Yes the car gave up but no team in a close battle with another team in the WCC would intentionally damage one of their own cars. Hamilton is leaving but seeing him go past the pit wall and acknowledging all of the strategists (including Whitmarsh) shows some class and that they are all trying their best for the end of the year.

ROS and KAR's crash was very scary. I wonder how many more close calls it is going to take to get some better driver safety on the cars?

 

[Brogan]

ROS and KAR's crash was very scary. I wonder how many more close calls it is going to take to get some better driver safety on the cars?

What's interesting is how there has been hardly any discussion on that, anywhere, nor any resumption of the talk on closed cockpits.
The accident was every bit as dangerous as Grosjean's and Alonso's but it seems to have been almost completely ignored.

 

[F1ang-o]

6pm. The BBC NEWS....shows today's F1 Race.....& incidents there-in...
Shows Lewis...getting any hope of winning The Abu Dhabi GP dashed by mechanical failure...pans to Macca garage.....no reaction......?...!.
Could have been out of sync.......but the way it is shown/looks, does not put McLaren in a good place...
And IMO...rightly so....so what happened to Lewis' car .....?

 

[tranquility2k9]

I don't personally think the race was as great as they seemed to think on BBC. To me it was the usual Abu Dhabi procession but with several of the usual candidates stepping up into their "destruction derby" mode. So it was only made 'exciting' by plenty of poor clumsy driving, which to me wasn't very exciting, it was just annoying. Perez has turned into a complete liability in recent races and although Webber was very fair when Alonso passed him (no surprise there), I thought his 2 moves, especially that on Massa were just a bit kamikaze style. They were not overtakes, they were simply forcing your way past someone, which incidentally, I believe is Vettel's style of overtaking. He went for a clumsy move which led to him damaging his front wing then decided to overtake Grosjean off the circuit.

You very rarely see overtaking moves from Vettel that have finesse or which seem that calculated, cunning or flowing. His moves generally just seem like a statement of "I'm way faster than you so get out of my way". It generally appears that he barges other cars out of the way, or in essence forces them to let him by otherwise contact would be made, rather than taking them by surprise with a natural overtaking maneuver. In other words, I don't think his overtaking is in the same league as Alonso, Hamilton or Button for example. But of course a race where he gets lucky with 2 safety cars and tons of cars in-front of him making contact, will probably go down on the records as another supposed indication that he is now a great overtaker.

 

[Westy]

What's interesting is how there has been hardly any discussion on that, anywhere, nor any resumption of the talk on closed cockpits.
The accident was every bit as dangerous as Grosjean's and Alonso's but it seems to have been almost completely ignored.

That's the scary thing. It mattered when it was Alonso almost getting hurt, but this time it was only Karthikayen (spelling?). It's obviously not a concern until a big name gets involved. I was watching the Speed coverage and they talked about safety when it first happened but they quickly changed the subject.

Unfortunately it is only a matter of time. I hope I'm wrong...

 

[Vortex]

But didn’t that first safety car actually hurt Vettel rather than help him? He had the off whilst following in the safety car pack and had to pit putting him back into last position! If there wasn’t that first safety car that incident wouldn’t have happened and he’d have been even further up the road.

 

[Brogan]

I still can't quite believe Webber didn't get a penalty with this incident, when he re-joined the track forcing Massa to take avoiding action.

Having watched that again, that was a definite drive through for rejoining the circuit in an unsafe manner.
Yet more inconsistency from the stewards, who'd have thought it...

 

[Brogan]

So the FIA have released the official classification for the race but there still hasn't been any word on the investigation into the Grosjean-Webber incident

 

[The Artist.....]

But massa should probably have had a drive through for forcing webber off the circuit as well!.....

 

[Fenderman]

Edit re. The flying Rosberg incident: I'm sure that when the initial post euphoria wears off there will be plenty of reaction from proponents of the closed cockpit and/or front roll hoops. The debate will no doubt be re-opened following the announcement of further research results. That research I am sure will attract even more funding from the FIA and elsewhere. I also have no doubt that the incident will be firmly etched in the minds of all who saw it.

On a lighter note ... it is frimly etched on all of the minds that inhabit Fenderman's head. ... or should that be ?

 

[Il_leone]

tranquility2k9

I have to agree with you about Vettel ...he's got Schumacher's lucky charm and someone is definitely making things go his way no matter the odds

I think Vettel thinks he's Senna at times where he would try and slice through and give a statement where if you don;t move out of the way there is going to be crash.

THe move on Button was good but it was rather do or die lunge...or more aggressive and less courteous driver would have shoved Seb off the track

I thought Webber's moves were very clumsy and I think Button showed him the difference between the two of them

where Mark tried something optimistic and did not budge he knew he was at risk at getting tapped and clearly did not learn in doing it on Massa

Button knew the safer place was down the inside so Maldonado had to yield and pulled off a clean move

---------------------------------------------------

I thought I#d point a few side stories

Lotus finally win a Grand Prix so great to see the legendary marque back on the winners step in F1 BUT

- The team itself prefer to be better known as the Enstone Team
- Genii Capital still insist they have a major stake in the team
- This is what Dany Bahar was hoping for but was sacked before he could see it
- Team Caterham and Tony Fernandes may feel aggrieved that it aint them bring the glorious name back to the front
- What does Robert Kubica feel now from wherever he is?


Post race

Alonso did not bat an eyelid or say a word to Vettel - I think there would be fireworks if they were ever in the same team

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Post race

Alonso did not bat an eyelid or say a word to Vettel - I think there would be fireworks if they were ever in the same team

The body language (or complete lack of) was pretty interesting! Seb & Kimi sat down and had a nice chat but Fernando wasn't joining in, that's for sure.

 

[Brogan]

I think Alonso fully expected to be leading the WDC after today's race, so to still be 10 points behind probably came as a bit of a shock.

 

[sushifiesta]

tranquility2k9 I agree about Vettel as well. I think it was an amazing result but not an impressive drive. With my sceptic hat on, he damaged his front wing in a clumsy move on Senna, damaged it further with another clumsy moment with Ricciardo and overtook Grosjean off the road. The only completely successful overtaking maneuver we saw him make was the one on Button, and by his own admission that required the experience of Jenson to avoid an accident.

Granted, in between these moments he must have had brilliant pace to get where he did (albeit with a perfect race setup), but the only reason he did get that result is that everyone else was busy crashing in to each other. He was lucky that one of the incidents he got himself in to didn't end his race.

Of course the optimist would say that he starting from the back he had nothing to lose so risked some gung ho moves that paid off for him in the end. The other thing is that these are the sorts of results Alonso has been getting all year when things were meant to be going against him, and we know what praise he gets. Personally I lean towards the negative interpretation, however.

The set-up changes are a bit of a non-issue for me, although they clearly helped.

 

[sportsman]

Strange that.Button called it a brave pass.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104031 Jenson Button admitted he had not expected Sebastian Vettel to make such a "brave" move on him for third place at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The world championship leader went around the outside of Button's McLaren into Turn 11 with four laps to go.
The pass completed Vettel's charge from the tail of the field after his Red Bull was disqualified from qualifying for a fuel infringement.
"It was very brave of him," said Button. "If I'd locked up and run wide, we would've crashed.
"It was a very unusual move. I didn't expect that."
Despite being impressed with Vettel's pass, Button reckoned there was no way he could have held the Red Bull back.