Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Congratulations ...
To Jenson Button for winning the Brazilian Grand Prix ...
To Sebastian Vettel for becoming the youngest F1 triple World Champion ...
To Fernando Alonso for keeping the competition going right up to the final laps of this final race ...
To Felipe Massa for being an exemplary 'wing-man' especially in this race ...
To ... well, to all the drivers and teams for giving us probably the best F1 season ever ...

Congratulations to Vettel, it is fair winner.
But also I want to congratulate Alonso because it has demonstrated that he is a great pilot.

It's hard too except as a Ferrari fan ....but as a fair gentlemen i Congratulate Sebastian Vettel as the Formula 1 World Champion of 2012 !!!
And ofcourse a Big Congratulations 2 our both drivers ....Alonso & Massa ...weldone guys
At the moment there is a bit of disbelieve ....emotions ...and a bit of anger on my side :......sorry

With being the tripple World Champion Sebastian has broken the record of Ayrton Senna being the youngest tripple champion ever !!!

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Congratulations to Sabastian Vettel for not only retaining his title, but for also being the youngest 3 times champion & the only the third to win 3 in row.

Congratulations to Jenson Button also for winning the race in difficult conditions.

Congratulations to 3 times world champion Sebastian Vettel and also youngest ever triple world champion

The latest News :

Maldonado handed 10-place grid penalty
Pastor Maldonado will be moved 10 places down the Brazilian Grand Prix grid after incurring a reprimand for missing the weighbridge in the second part of qualifying. Because the reprimand for the incident was Maldonado's third of the year, he was given a grid demotion on this occasion.
The Williams driver had qualified sixth prior to the punishment, so will drop to 16th.
Maldonado's demotion has an impact on the Formula 1 title battle as it will elevate championship contender Fernando Alonso from eighth to seventh on the grid. Maldonado's previous warnings were for blocking Heikki Kovalainen in Chinese GP qualifying and colliding with Sergio Perez in the British GP.
He was also given grid demotions for driving incidents in Monaco, where he tangled with Perez in practice, Belgium, where he was adjudged to have blocked Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying, and Italy, where he was given a 10-place penalty for jumping the start and then hitting Timo Glock at Spa.

No action over de la Rosa/Grosjean clash
Romain Grosjean and Pedro de la Rosa have escaped any sanction for their coming together during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. De la Rosa moved across on Grosjean on the run up to the start-finish straight after his Lotus rival attempted to dive down the inside of the slower HRT near the entry to the pits.
The incident damaged Grosjean's front wing and culminated in him failing to make it out of Q1.
The stewards called both drivers to see them after qualifying to see if either had been at fault, but in the end decided that it was simply a misunderstanding. A statement issued by the stewards said: "The driver of car 22 (de la Rosa) felt that he was following his normal line, was aware that car 10 was behind him and was aware of the speed delta. "The driver of car 10 believed he had been seen by the driver of car 22 and that car 22 was moving aside to the right to allow him through. "Accordingly the stewards consider this a driving incident due to the nature of the track but have advised the drivers, and the drivers agree, that this could have resulted in a very serious outcome."

Maldonado says light turned red too late
Pastor Maldonado has blamed his failure to stop at the weighbridge during Q2, which earned him a reprimand and triggered an automatic 10-place grid penalty, on the signal light turning red too late.
Drivers can be called to the weighbridge at any time when they enter the pits during qualifying, with a light on the pit-wall going red to indicated that they must stop. But Maldonado did not see the light, leading to the reprimand for failing "to proceed directly tot he FIA garage when signalled to do so."
"It's 50/50," said Maldonado when asked about the incident. "The light came on quite late.
"It was the first time that we run the 100km/h in the pitlane and when you are at 100km/h and the light is just 20 metres ahead of you, it's too late. "Maybe the light was completely red when I crossed it but at the same time, the entry of the pitlane is very narrow, you are very low in the car and there is a hill.
"When the hill finishes, there is the light, so it is a difficult situation."
Despite lining up 16th after ending qualifying sixth, Maldonado is confident of being able to fight for points, particularly in wet conditions. "The car is good, we are not very far away [in terms of pace]," he said.
"I'm very confident for tomorrow. Maybe it will be better than today, so we will see.
"I've been quite quick even at the start of qualifying when it was wet, I was immediately at the top so I am quite confident we can be strong."

Michael Schumacher keeping F1 farewell emotion in check
Michael Schumacher does not expect the emotion of competing in his final Formula 1 race to hit him during Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix. The German legend will retire from the sport for a second time when the 2012 season ends. He originally walked away from the cockpit at the end of 2006, before being tempted back to join Mercedes in 2010. Schumacher's return did not live up to expectations, as he was often outperformed by team-mate Nico Rosberg and took just one podium finish. He will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton next season.
Asked if he was likely to get emotional during the race about his 306th F1 start being his last, Schumacher replied: "I know I will not. That's me. When I'm in the car, I'm focused 100 per cent on what I'm doing.
"Maybe in certain moments, such as when coming to the grid or when the chequered flag is down, I will think about this.
"Who knows, I might even be emotional in that moment... But so far there has not been too much of this."
Although not emotional about his departure, Schumacher admitted he had been affected by fans' outpourings of support at Interlagos this week.
"I'm obviously feeling touched. It is a very nice gesture from all those fans," he said.
"People who love motorsport liked what I was doing over all those years. It's certainly a good feeling. But I'm still focused 100 per cent." He underlined he would not be changing his approach for his last race, or going for broke with a strategic gamble if rain hit.
"Usually in these conditions I try to do the best. It's not about gambling, it's about trying to be precise and spot on," said Schumacher.
Having already had the experience of retiring from F1 once, Schumacher added that he knew how he would feel when the 2013 season began without him.
"I have already been there sitting in front of the television and watching with interest," he said. "I will have no hard feelings."



Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Comment of the last qualifying of the season 2012 :

McLaren swept the front row for the Formula 1 title decider in Brazil, with Lewis Hamilton denying Jenson Button pole position as championship rivals Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso ended up only fourth and eighth on the grid. Neither Vettel or Alonso looked like they had the pace to fight for pole as McLaren took charge of Q3.
Hamilton and Button were fastest after the first runs, with Alonso in fifth at that stage while a mistake at the Descida do Lago left Vettel only sixth.Both improved on their next runs, but Alonso's gains were only marginal. He held fourth, only to be demoted to eighth as others improved. Vettel was right down in 10th at that stage, but was at least able to salvage fourth. Meanwhile his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber briefly deposed the McLarens at the head of the order, before Hamilton and Button's final laps thrust them back to the top, 0.055 seconds apart. Behind the McLarens and Red Bulls, Felipe Massa outqualified Alonso for the second time in a week as he claimed fifth. Pastor Maldonado's Williams and Nico Hulkenberg's Force India also found themselves ahead of the championship contender as they took sixth and seventh. The final top-10 spots went to Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg. Michael Schumacher's final F1 qualifying session did not bring much to celebrate. He was only 14th, half a second down on Mercedes team-mate Rosberg.
Paul di Resta again struggled to match Force India team-mate Hulkenberg's qualifying form too, ending up missing the Q3 cut in 11th. Also out in Q2 were Williams's Bruno Senna, both Saubers and both Toro Rossos.
Romain Grosjean was knocked out in Q1 in dramatic fashion. The Lotus made contact with Pedro de la Rosa's HRT on the start/finish straight when he tried to squeeze past the slower car as they passed the pit entry.
Grosjean brushed the barriers and was left with a mangled front wing, and although he did make it back out and do a lap that brought him back inside the cut-off, he was pushed down to 18th by Daniel Ricciardo moments later. Vitaly Petrov narrowly beat Caterham team-mate Heikki Kovalainen to 19th, the duo lapping half a second clear of Timo Glock's Marussia. Despite weather dominating conversation this weekend, the only rain of the afternoon came half an hour before the session. That meant early Q1 laps were on intermediates, but the track was fully dry before the opening segment was over.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO PETROBRAS DO BRASIL 2012
qualifying results
1 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.075 1:13.398 1:12.458 21
2 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.456 1:13.515 1:12.513 20
3 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:16.180 1:13.667 1:12.581 22
4 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:15.644 1:13.209 1:12.760 19
5 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.263 1:14.048 1:12.987 25
6 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:16.266 1:13.698 1:13.174 24
7 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:15.536 1:13.704 1:13.206
8 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:16.097 1:13.856 1:13.253
9 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:16.432 1:13.698 1:13.298
10 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.929 1:13.848 1:13.489
11 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:15.901 1:14.121
12 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:15.333 1:14.219
13 15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.974 1:14.234
14 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.005 1:14.334
15 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.400 1:14.380
16 16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:16.744 1:14.574
17 17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:16.722 1:14.619
18 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:16.967
19 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:17.073
20 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:17.086
21 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:17.508
22 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:18.104
23 23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:19.576
24 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:19.699

Here are the times of the 3rd and final practice session of this seasons F1 :

1. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:13.188 -
2. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:13.245 + 0.057
3. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:13.385 + 0.197
4. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:13.389 + 0.201
5. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:13.420 + 0.232
6. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:13.486 + 0.298
7. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:13.602 + 0.414
8. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:13.681 + 0.493
9. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1:13.700 + 0.512
10. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:13.712 + 0.524
11. Bruno Senna : Williams : 1:13.948 + 0.760
12. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:14.126 + 0.938
13. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:14.190 + 1.002
14. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:14.192 + 1.004
15. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : 1:14.347 + 1.159
16. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:14.687 + 1.499
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:14.972 + 1.784
18. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham : 1:15.159 + 1.971
19. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:15.707 + 2.519
20. Timo Glock Marussia F1 Team : 1:15.763 + 2.575
21. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:16.059 + 2.871
22. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:16.198 + 3.010
23. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team : 1:16.793 + 3.605
24. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : no time -

Comment of the last practice session :
Jenson Button fended off Sebastian Vettel to secure the fastest time in final practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. Vettel's Formula 1 world championship rival Fernando Alonso was back in eighth, although he abandoned his final run due to traffic. Most of the session's action was compressed into the final 10 minutes when the field went into qualifying simulation mode. Prior to that, the two Mercedes had exchanged the top spot initially before Button set a 1m13.917s that would keep him in first place for most of the morning. Red Bull driver Vettel got within 0.007s of the McLaren but could not depose it. The Force Indias were the first to show their hand on medium tyres, with first Nico Hulkenberg, then Paul di Resta grabbing first before Button snatched it back almost immediately, the position changing hands three times in less than a minute.
Button's 1m13.192s proved unbeatable for all bar the Briton himself, who got down to a 1m13.188s with his next attempt, despite a disappointing middle sector . No one could get closer than two tenths adrift of that pace until Vettel delivered a 1m13.245s lap after the chequered flag, vaulting him up from 10th to second.
His team-mate Mark Webber took third, just ahead of the second McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.
Romain Grosjean was a frontrunner all morning, eventually securing the final top-five slot for Lotus.
Force India's burst of pace was no fluke, as di Resta and Hulkenberg retained sixth and seventh even after all the frontrunners had done medium-tyre runs. The Ferraris had to settle for eighth and 10th, Alonso and Felipe Massa split by the Williams of Pastor Maldonado. Kimi Raikkonen got no useful running at all. His Lotus suffered a Renault engine failure on the second straight as he went onto what would have been his first flying lap 15 minutes into the morning. Lotus will be able to fit a used spare for the race without having to take a penalty for requiring a ninth engine. In his final F1 practice session, Michael Schumacher had a lucky escape when Bruno Senna ran very wide out of Juncao and spun his Williams back across the straight in the Mercedes' path. Schumacher avoided being collected and continued safely.

At 17.00u CET will be the last qualifying of this seasons F1 !!!

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

3rd practice session just 10 minutes far ....and allready over for Kimi Raikkonen .....blew up engine
Today the weather is much cooler !!!

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

24/11/1952 norbert haug mercedes vice president
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last year podium in brazil
1 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 71 1:32:17.464
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 71 +16.9 secs
3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 71 +27.6 secs

And the result of the 2nd practice that ended in a hot tempature ( 34°C ) :

1. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:14.026 -
2. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:14.300 + 0.274
3. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:14.523 + 0.497
4. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:14.553 + 0.527
5. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:14.592 + 0.566
6. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : 1:14.654 + 0.628
7. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:14.669 + 0.643
8. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:14.863 + 0.837
9. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:14.994 + 0.968
10. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:15.129 + 1.103
11. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:15.131 + 1.105
12. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 1:15.371 + 1.345
13. Bruno Senna : Williams : 1:15.432 + 1.406
14. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:15.542 + 1.516
15. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:15.839 + 1.813
16. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:15.902 + 1.876
17. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1:15.953 + 1.927
18. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:16.048 + 2.022
19. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham : 1:16.126 + 2.100
20. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:16.655 + 2.629
21. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:17.244 + 3.218
22. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : 1:17.675 + 3.649
23. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:18.127 + 4.101
24. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team : 1:18.139 + 4.113

Comment of the 2nd session :
Lewis Hamilton continued his strong start to his McLaren swansong weekend as he went fastest again in second practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Formula 1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel was second, three places ahead of title rival Fernando Alonso. Both Vettel and Alonso had spells on top during the afternoon, but Hamilton moved comfortably clear in the closing stages when the field switched to the softer tyres.
It was Alonso's Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa who held sway at first, before being usurped by Vettel's Red Bull after 12 minutes. Vettel's 1m15.226s was good enough to keep him on top for nearly half an hour, although Jenson Button came within a few fractions of displacing him. It was Alonso who eventually did push the champion off the top, putting in a 1m15.150s. That was the last benchmark time of the hard-tyre period, with Romain Grosjean becoming the first frontrunner to try the medium compound shortly afterwards. The Lotus did not need long to beat Alonso. There followed a frantic spell in which Nico Rosberg, Massa and then Hamilton held the top spot within two minutes. But once back in front, Hamilton would stay there. His 1m14.026s lap was half a second clear of the field at that stage, and the closest anyone could get was Vettel's 1m14.300s.
Mark Webber completed the top three in the second Red Bull, ahead of the Ferraris of Massa and Alonso.
Mercedes was near the leaders throughout the session, with Michael Schumacher and Rosberg ending up sixth and seventh, followed by Button and Grosjean. Paul di Resta pipped Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg by just 0.002s to grab the final top-10 spot.
At the back, HRT again completed significantly less mileage than its rivals, while Charles Pic had to park his Marussia with what the team believes was an alternator problem.

Tomorrow ( saturday ) at 14.00u CET will be the 3rd and final practice session of this season , followed at 17.00u CETthe final qualification of the season 2012 !!!!!

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

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Thank You Michael for al those years in Formula 1 !!!!!!!!!


Regards
Shaky-Schumi