Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

For me, both Mercedes and Red Bull have had a shameful behavior with team orders.
Rosberg has had to raise the foot not to move forward Hamilton; and Vettel, can be a great pilot but he has disappointed me as a sportsman.

To be honaust i'm serious dissapointed in the Team of Red Bull & Mercedes ,it's only the 2nd race ...and what is happening allready ....Team orders ....Come pn let those drivers fight each other .....let them race for what they are worth it ....and not ..." Nico you may not overtake Lewis " & " get Mark out of the way i'm faster " . Seriously ...a tripple F1 World Champion and complaining that his team mate is too slow ....wel Sebastianproof that you are a 3 times F1 Champion and just overtake him ....and don't cry like a baby !!!
The season is just begon ,so let them fight each other ..without taken each other out of the race ofcourse
And about Ferrari ...i can say that it was a serious gamble with keeping Alonso out for 1 more lap ....always the wrong strategy Thank god that Massa saved some damage for the Team !

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Niki Lauda - Living Legend now Boss in Mercedes ...
Finally the Mercedes is goin well in F1 thanks to his great experience.
I'm so happy for Him, he is always in my heart just since my childhood !

So go ahead Mercedes !
This is only the new beggining, there is a lot of work to do but this is a good start.

Result of the race in Malaysia :

Sebastian Vettel beats Mark Webber amid team row
Sebastian Vettel denied Mark Webber in a ferocious Red Bull intra-team battle to secure Malaysian Grand Prix victory. The pair were wheel to wheel repeatedly in the closing laps before Vettel broke clear - despite the team having ordered them to hold station with Webber ahead.
Just behind them,team instructions were also a flashpoint between the Mercedes team-mates, before Lewis Hamilton - who had been a lead threat for a spell - led home Nico Rosberg.
Fernando Alonso's bid for victory ended early, when he crashed out having sustained wing damage nudging Vettel on the opening lap. Conditions had been wet at that stage following a heavy pre-race shower.
Alonso immediately passed Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa off the line, resisted Webber's outside-line attempt and attacked Vettel for the lead, but slid lightly into the Red Bull at Turn 2 . That dislodged the Ferrari's front wing, a situation that worsened as the lap went on - though that did not stop Alonso from fending off Webber's repeated probes. Ferrari stayed out, seemingly hoping to coincide the wing change with a switch to slicks, but as Webber passed Alonso on the pits straight, the Spaniard's wing collapsed and sent him skating into the gravel and out of the race. Vettel and Webber then ran first and second, swapping positions at the pitstops as Vettel's early change to slicks proved slightly premature. Webber came under increasing pressure from Vettel in the middle of the race, while the Mercedes began catching them both.
This prompted Vettel to urge the team to get Webber out of his way, but the Australian managed to rebuild a lead and Vettel found himself dropping behind the earlier-pitting Hamilton at the third pitstops.
Hamilton lost pace in the next stint as he had to start saving fuel, allowing Vettel to reclaim second into the first corner. The world champion then played the early stop tactic at the fourth and final pit visit, which brought him right back onto Webber's tail when the Australian changed tyres. They grappled wheel to wheel through the first five corners for two consecutive laps, prompting frantic radio calls from a concerned Red Bull pitwall, before Vettel got decisively in front and went on to clinch another win. The Mercedes had fallen away by that stage and were involved in their own intra-team controversy. After Hamilton and Rosberg swapped places repeatedly in the DRS zones for several laps, they were ordered to hold station and save fuel and tyres, to Rosberg's clear displeasure. Ferrari had to settle for fifth with Felipe Massa, who recovered to that position after losing ground in the early stages. That place would have gone to Jenson Button had the McLaren not lost two minutes in the pits after pulling away with a loose right front wheel and having to stop in the pitlane and wait for his mechanics to retrieve the car. That was one of a wild array of pit incidents, which also included Hamilton mistakenly pulling into former team McLaren's area, both Force Indias having to retire with wheelnut issues, and Charles Pic and Jean-Eric Vergne colliding amid pitstops. Lotus claimed sixth and seventh with Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, the latter having an uneventful afternoon that included trips off the road and a bitter battle with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, who took eighth. Sergio Perez was ninth for McLaren, while Vergne held off Valtteri Bottas to give Toro Rosso the final point.

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:38:56.681
2. Mark Webber Red Bull +4.298
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +12.181
4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +12.640
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari +25.648
6. Romain Grosjean Lotus +35.564
7. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus +48.479
8. Nico Hülkenberg Sauber +53.044
9. Sergio Perez McLaren +1:12.357
10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso +1:27.124
11. Valtteri Bottas Williams +1:28.610
12. Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber +1lap
13. Jules Bianchi Marussia +1 lap
14. Charles Pic Caterham +1 lap
15. Giedo van der Garde Caterham +1lap
16. Max Chilton Marussia +2 laps
Did Not Finish :
17. Jenson Button McLaren +3 laps
18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso +5 laps
19. Pastor Maldonado Williams +11 laps
20. Adrian Sutil Force India +0
21. Paul di Resta Force India +0
22. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +0

Fastest lap : Sergio Perez - 1:39.199
Pitstop Button : DNF
Bat.2 Teams : Grosjean > Perez
Gr.Pos .- V. Bottas : 11th place

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

constructors standing
1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 66
2 Lotus-Renault 40
3 Ferrari 40
4 Mercedes 37
5 Force India-Mercedes 10
6 Sauber-Ferrari 4
7 McLaren-Mercedes 4
8 STR-Ferrari 1
9 Williams-Renault 0
10 Marussia-Cosworth 0
11 Caterham-Renault 0

drivers standings
1 Sebastian Vettel German Red Bull Racing-Renault 40
2 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Lotus-Renault 31
3 Mark Webber Australian Red Bull Racing-Renault 26
4 Lewis Hamilton British Mercedes 25
5 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 22
6 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 18
7 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes 12
8 Romain Grosjean French Lotus-Renault 9
9 Adrian Sutil German Force India-Mercedes 6
10 Paul di Resta British Force India-Mercedes 4
11 Nico Hulkenberg German Sauber-Ferrari 4
12 Sergio Perez Mexican McLaren-Mercedes 2
13 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 2
14 Jean-Eric Vergne French STR-Ferrari 1
15 Valtteri Bottas Finnish Williams-Renault 0
16 Esteban Gutierrez Mexican Sauber-Ferrari 0
17 Jules Bianchi French Marussia-Cosworth 0
18 Charles Pic French Caterham-Renault 0
19 Giedo van der Garde Dutch Caterham-Renault 0
20 Max Chilton British Marussia-Cosworth 0
21 Daniel Ricciardo Australian STR-Ferrari 0
22 Pastor Maldonado Venezuelan Williams-Renault 0

malaysia gp results
1 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 56 Winner 1 25
2 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 56 +4.2 secs 5 18
3 10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 56 +12.1 secs 4 15
4 9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 56 +12.6 secs 6 12
5 4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 56 +25.6 secs 2 10
6 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 56 +35.5 secs 11 8
7 7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 56 +48.4 secs 10 6
8 11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 56 +53.0 secs 12 4
9 6 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 56 +72.3 secs 9 2
10 18 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 56 +87.1 secs 17 1
11 17 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 56 +88.6 secs 18
12 12 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 55 +1 Lap 14
13 22 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 55 +1 Lap 19
14 20 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 55 +1 Lap 20
15 21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 55 +1 Lap 22
16 23 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 21
17 5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 53 +3 Laps 7
18 19 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 51 +5 Laps 13
Ret 16 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 45 +11 Laps 16
Ret 15 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 27 +29 Laps 8
Ret 14 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 22 +34 Laps 15
Ret 3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1 +55 Laps 3
Note - Raikkonen qualified seventh but dropped three grid places for impeding

2013 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX
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Fri 12 April 2013
Practice 1 04:00 - 05:30
Practice 2 08:00 - 09:30
Sat 13 April 2013
Practice 3 05:00 - 06:00
Qualifying 08:00
Sun 14 April 2013
Race 09:00

Jaime Alguersuari 23rd March 1990
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Happy Birthday to your 23rd anniversary

Kimi Raikonen 3 places back in starting order due to interference of Nico Rosberg.
Now place 10 in starting grid.

The result of the qualifying :

Vettel on pole as rain hits qualifying :
Sebastian Vettel took pole position by nearly a second on a drying track in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix. With the circuit improving moment by moment in the final part of Q3, Vettel made great use of a fresh set of intermediates to lap in 1m49.674s for Red Bull. The Ferraris will line up behind Vettel on the grid. Felipe Massa outqualified Fernando Alonso for a fourth straight race, but was still 0.9 seconds adrift of pole.
Lewis Hamilton held provisional pole for Mercedes going into the last minute, before being shuffled back to fourth by Vettel and the Ferraris. Mark Webber was another man who had had a strong pole shot but ended up lower down, in his case fifth. Q2 pacesetter Nico Rosberg completed the top six, with Kimi Raikkonen the top Lotus in seventh. McLaren managed to get both cars into Q3, as Jenson Button and Sergio Perez took eighth and 10th. They were split by Adrian Sutil's Force India, which had been fastest in Q1.
The rain had started in Q2, catching out those who had not set an early banker lap.
The Ferraris just made it through in time, but Romain Grosjean's early time was pushed back to 11th, leaving the Lotus driver frustrated. Paul di Resta spun helplessly to 15th, behind Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Gutierrez. Pastor Maldonado did not manage to get a lap in at all.
Williams had already lost Valtteri Bottas, unable to get out of Q1, along with Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.
Both men were only a few tenths clear of the astonishing Jules Bianchi's Marussia. The French rookie beat the rest of the backmarkers by 0.9s ad was 1.2s quicker than team-mate Max Chilton.

1. Sebastian Vettel Red : Bull Racing - 1:49.674 -
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari : 1:50.587 - + 0.913
3. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari 1:50.727 - + 1.053
4. Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes GP - 1:51.699 + 2.025
5. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing - 1:52.244 + 2.570
6. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP - 1:52.519 + 2.845
7. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus - 1:52.970 + 3.296
8. Jenson Button : McLaren - 1:53.175 + 3.501
9. Adrian Sutil : Force India - 1:53.439 + 3.765
10. Sergio Perez : McLaren - 1:54.136 + 4.462

Q2
11. Romain Grosjean : Lotus - 1:37.636 + -12.038
12. Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber - 1:38.125 + -11.549
13. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso - 1:38.822 + -10.852
14. Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber - 1:39.221 + -10.453
15. Paul di Resta : Force India - 1:44.509 + -5.165
16. Pastor Maldonado : Williams - no time -
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso - 1:38.157 + -11.517

Q1
18. Valtteri Bottas : Williams - 1:38.207 -
19. Jules Bianchi : Marussia F1 Team - 1:38.434 + -11.240
20. Charles Pic : Caterham - 1:39.314 + -10.360
21. Max Chilton : Marussia F1 Team - 1:39.672 + -10.002
22. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham - 1:39.932 + -9.742

Qual : 1:49.674
Pole : Sebastian Vettel
T.Bat : Nico Hulkenberg > Esteban Gutierrez
Gr.Pos Perez : 10th place

Sunday : Race at 09.00u CET !!!

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Here is the result of the 3rd practice session that has just ended :

Vettel quickest in final Sepang practice
Sebastian Vettel highlighted his position as favourite for pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix by going quickest in final practice at Sepang. The Red Bull driver posted the best time of the weekend with a lap of 1m36.435s near the end of the session, outpacing Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton by 0.133 seconds and the Force India of Adrian Sutil by less than two tenths. Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber was fourth fastest in a very evenly-matched session, the Australian just 0.178s adrift. Yesterday's pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen had to settle for fifth position after complaining about the handling of his Lotus. Although all drivers jumped onto the track right at the start of the session, it was the Caterhams of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde who set the early pace as the frontrunners took things easy. Ten minutes in, Raikkonen moved to the top of the times as he posted a 1m38s lap, soon to be bettered by Mercedes's Nico Rosberg and minutes later by Sutil in the Force India, the German the first man to lap in the 1m37s bracket. Rosberg returned to first post briefly before team-mate Hamilton outpaced him by over three tenths with a lap of 1m37.527s, still far from the pace set by Raikkonen on Friday. Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the last man to complete a timed lap, the Brazilian not returning to the track until half the session was gone. Rosberg fitted the medium tyres to move back into first position with the first lap in the 1m36s at the 32-minute mark as Webber and Vettel sat at the bottom of the times, the Red Bull duo still seemingly struggling with the durability of the tyres.
Hamilton's first run on mediums with 20 minutes to go proved to be the fastest lap of the weekend, improving on Raikkonen's best from Friday by 0.001 seconds. Webber left the bottom of the times moments later, using the medium tyres to finish 0.045 seconds behind Hamilton. Vettel, still slowest with 16 minutes of the session left, completed his first lap on mediums to move into sixth position. Sutil jumped up to second place with less than 10 minutes remaining, finishing just 0.020s behind Hamilton.With just over three minutes left, Vettel set a new benchmark in the medium tyre-shod Red Bull, the world champion's 1m36.435s putting him over a tenth ahead of his closest rival. Except for a few off-track excursions, the session was incident-free.

1. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.435 -
2. Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes GP - 1:36.568 + 0.133
3. Adrian Sutil : Force India - 1:36.588 + 0.153
4. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.613 + 0.178
5. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus - 1:36.806 + 0.371
6. Paul di Resta : Force India - 1:36.807 + 0.372
7. Jenson Button : McLaren - 1:36.822 + 0.387
8. Felipe Massa : Ferrari - 1:36.946 + 0.511
9. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP - 1:36.949 + 0.514
10. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari - 1:37.302 + 0.867
11. Pastor Maldonado : Williams - 1:37.359 + 0.924
12. Sergio Perez : McLaren - 1:37.538 + 1.103
13. Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber - 1:37.685 + 1.250
14. Romain Grosjean : Lotus - 1:37.690 + 1.255
15. Valtteri Bottas : Williams - 1:37.936 + 1.501
16. Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber - 1:38.294 + 1.859
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso - 1:38.376 + 1.941
18. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso - 1:38.425 + 1.990
19. Charles Pic : Caterham - 1:38.995 + 2.560
20. Jules Bianchi : Marussia F1 Team - 1:39.717 + 3.282
21. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham - 1:40.209 + 3.774
22. Max Chilton : Marussia F1 Team - 1:40.495 + 4.060

At 09.00u will be the qualifying !

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Result of the 2nd practice session :

Raikkonen quickest in rain-hit second practice
Kimi Raikkonen beat Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa to the top spot in a close second Formula 1 practice session in Malaysia before rain intervened. A heavy shower approaching the hour mark ensured that the 1m36.569s that Raikkonen had done on medium tyres 36 minutes in would stand as the fastest lap of the day.
Raikkonen's Lotus, Vettel's Red Bull and Massa's Ferrari had all taken turns in front during the dry section, and they ended up filling the final top three, covered by just 0.092 seconds. The rain did not mean the end of the action. With similar conditions likely in both qualifying and the race, teams swiftly sent their drivers back out to sample both the wet track and the crossover to dry weather so they had some experience in case of rain later in the weekend. The warm ambient temperature swiftly dried the track sufficiently for slicks, but the track was never quite good enough for drivers to beat their early times.
Behind the top three, Fernando Alonso edged out Mark Webber for fourth, with Romain Grosjean next up.
The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were seventh and ninth, split by Paul di Resta.
Adrian Sutil held on to 10th despite a mechanical problem keeping his Force India in the garage during the rain delay. Nearly everyone managed to avoid drama when the rain came, although Nico Hulkenberg did spin his slick-shod Sauber in the pitlane entry. Giedo van der Garde rotated on the track, spinning his Caterham onto the Turn 14 run-off.
1. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus - 1:36.569 -
2. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.588 + 0.019
3. Felipe Massa : Ferrari - 1:36.661 + 0.092
4. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari - 1:36.985 + 0.416
5. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing - 1:37.026 + 0.457
6. Romain Grosjean : Lotus - 1:37.206 + 0.637
7. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP - 1:37.448 + 0.879
8. Paul di Resta : Force India - 1:37.571 + 1.002
9. Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes GP - 1:37.574 + 1.005
10. Adrian Sutil : Force India - 1:37.788 + 1.219
11. Sergio Perez : McLaren - 1:37.838 + 1.269
12. Jenson Button : McLaren - 1:37.865 + 1.296
13. Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber - 1:38.068 + 1.499
14. Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber - 1:38.645 + 2.076
15. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso - 1:38.738 + 2.169
16. Pastor Maldonado : Williams - 1:38.801 + 2.232
17. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso - 1:38.904 + 2.335
18. Jules Bianchi : Marussia F1 Team - 1:39.508 + 2.939
19. Valtteri Bottas : Williams - 1:39.660 + 3.091
20. Charles Pic : Caterham - 1:40.757 + 4.188
21. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham - 1:40.768 + 4.199
22. Max Chilton : Marussia F1 Team - 1:41.438 + 4.869

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Result of the 1st practice session :

Mark Webber fastest in first practice :
Red Bull returned to the top in opening practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, as Mark Webber led the way at Sepang on Friday morning. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel was back in third, behind Melbourne winner Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus. The Finn had not joined the track until 55 minutes into the session as his mechanics worked to replace a KERS battery. But Raikkonen needed no time to get up to speed as he immediately put a 1m37.003s lap, 0.068 seconds down on pacesetter Webber and sufficient to split the Red Bulls.
Although Raikkonen was late out of the garage, he did not miss out on much running as it took 34 minutes for anyone to set a flying lap. Most of the pack waited in the pits for circuit conditions to improve, then set their fastest times in a 10 minute spell of short runs before switching to heavy fuel for the rest of the morning.
Those long runs featured significant pace drop-off as tyres wore, with Lewis Hamilton in particular complaining of his Pirellis being "destroyed". Behind Webber, Raikkonen and Vettel, Fernando Alonso put the leading Ferrari fourth, followed by Nico Rosberg's Mercedes.
Adrian Sutil followed up his star turn in Melbourne with sixth place, despite having to pit for repairs after damaging his Force India's wing on a kerb. Alonso and Sutil's respective team-mates Felipe Massa and Paul di Resta were seventh and eighth, with Hamilton and Romain Grosjean completing the top 10.
Elsewhere, form appeared similar to Australia, as McLaren, Williams and Sauber were all outside the top 10. Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez committed the only significant error of the session as he went off at Turn 14.

1. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing - 1:36.935 -
2. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus - 1:37.003 + 0.068
3. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing - 1:37.104 + 0.169
4. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari - 1:37.319 + 0.384
5. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP - 1:37.588 + 0.653
6. Adrian Sutil : Force India - 1:37.769 + 0.834
7. Felipe Massa : Ferrari - 1:37.771 + 0.836
8. Paul di Resta : Force India - 1:37.773 + 0.838
9. Lewis Hamilton : Mercedes GP - 1:37.840 + 0.905
10. Romain Grosjean : Lotus - 1:37.915 + 0.980
11. Jenson Button : McLaren - 1:38.173 + 1.238
12. Pastor Maldonado : Williams 1:38.673 + 1.738
13. Sergio Perez : McLaren - 1:38.830 + 1.895
14. Nico Hulkenberg : Sauber - 1:39.054 + 2.119
15. Esteban Gutierrez : Sauber - 1:39.204 + 2.269
16. Valtteri Bottas : Williams - 1:39.208 + 2.273
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso - 1:39.284 + 2.349
18. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso - 1:39.567 + 2.632
19. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham - 1:40.728 + 3.793
20. Jules Bianchi : Marussia F1 Team - 1:40.996 + 4.061
21. Charles Pic : Caterham - 1:41.163 + 4.228
22. Max Chilton : Marussia F1 Team - 1:41.513 + 4.578

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Sepang International Circuit – Malaysian GP. First edition 1999 and since then its layout has never been changed. There are some high speed corners with changes of direction but also two long straights and slow corners. Very wide the roadway. The climate is tropical, with a high level of humidity and a high risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Two drs zones: back straight and start-finish straight with two different detection point.
Tyre: Hard(orange stripe) and Medium(white stripe) a very conservative choice but here the tire wear will be high, also because the asphalt surface is abrasive and Pirelli expects an average of three pit stop for this race.
Last week in Melbourne we have seen a great victory for Raikkonen. His Lotus seems to be well balanced and with a low tyre wear. The Finn scored his fastest lap at the end of the race with a set of tyres fitted by as many as 22 laps. Good pace race for Ferrari, while Vettel was very fast in qualifying but in the race, perhaps due to the low temperatures, his RB9 has suffered in tyre management. Rosberg and Hamilton: better on a flying lap than in race. Mc Laren: a negative surprise with a lot of problems.
Sepang circuit is a completely different track, so we'll see what will happen in this week end.
- The winners of Malaysian GP (last 5 editions)
2008 Raikkonen – Ferrari
2009 Button – Brawn Mercedes
2010 Vettel – Red Bull Renault
2011 Vettel – Red Bull Renault
2012 Alonso – Ferrari
- Pole position: (last 3 editions)
2010 M Webber – Red Bull Renault
2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault – pole time 1m 34.870 – second free practice 1m 36.876 (gap: 2.006)
2012 L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes – pole time 1m 36.219 – second free practice 1m 38.172 (gap: 1.953)
In the last two editions the improvement between the second free practice session on Friday afternoon and pole position was around 2 seconds.

Today is March 21. His birthday. Unforgettable Ayrton; an extraordinary man and a legendary champion.