2012 European GP - Valencia

[Red Schneider]

No Penalty for Hamilton.
Pole Lap Avalible ! Just Brillant =D>
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIyCDdfnAs8[youtube]

That's the first pole lap I can remember seeing without commentary. Great.

[zyphro]

I think Schumacher may be done I'm really sorry to say. Simply running out of excuses.

Um, I hope you're not trying to say Schumacher is responsible for mechanical failures...

This was his first mistake in qualifying this year.

[Chuckjr]

I think Schumacher may be done I'm really sorry to say. Simply running out of excuses.

Um, I hope you're not trying to say Schumacher is responsible for mechanical failures...

This was his first mistake in qualifying this year.

I dunno. Just gut instinct. I'm a major fan of him - have big respect - but just something is telling me it's over. I hope I'm wrong.

[Chuckjr]

...
and don't tell me that your enthusiasm about newey came from his exhaust ''please God make it work this time'' system version 5.

Wow. Are you seriously saying that? You don't win multi world championships from multiple teams just hoping/guessing. Please.

[CHT]

SV will blast away from pole today and this could mark the beginning of the end of this year championship.
All thanks for RBR for producing yet another brilliant race car this year.

[mcalex]

If you watch the video closely you can see that he drove this lap from the first corner to the last perfectly and used DRS to the max.
He can't drive all the laps like that.

[Chuckjr]

If you watch the video closely you can see that he drove this lap from the first corner to the last perfectly and used DRS to the max.
He can't drive all the laps like that.

I bet you are probably right...probably.

[Mr Alcatraz]

...
vettel is in the same position as he was in the last race in canada.
he had 0.3 sec advantage in qualy and ended behind ferrari and mclaren in race pace.
and don't tell me that your enthusiasm about newey came from his exhaust ''please God make it work this time'' system version 5.

+ according to: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100624 Webbers loss of DRS was a 1.3 sec p/l hit.

[Traction]

No Penalty for Hamilton.
Pole Lap Avalible ! Just Brillant =D>
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIyCDdfnAs8[/youtube]

Thanks for that. Good to note how well this track suits the RB cars. Only once anywhere on the track did the top speed max out and that was only for a second or two. Considering they sacrifice top speed for grip and acceleration it looks good for Seb.

[bhall]

How can anyone call the top 13 or so separated by less than 1/2 sec bs?? I mean come on. What do you want? Last year? Good drivers not being able to show their talent b/c they aren't in a top 3 team? Jesus. Seriously. This is fantastic racing. But I guess I'm not a true f1 fan and have only been watch since 2000 according to some here. Give me a freeking break. 

No one has a problem with the tight field. I mean that, no one. It may seem that way, but it's just because people aren't necessarily articulating their thoughts clearly on the subject.

If the top 13 were separated by less than 0.5 seconds under the rule of open regulations, everyone, and I do mean everyone, would be riveted by the show. Not only would they be on the edge of their seats, they'd likely float an inch or two above the edge of their seats. Such would be the level of excitement.

But we all know the regulations are far from open. In fact, they're extremely tight. They've produced identical powerplants that propel mostly identical cars. The ever-tightening field then is just an incessant reminder that F1 has become a de facto spec series.

I'm not saying this to start yet another debate on the issue. I'm just trying to foster a little bit of understanding, because I feel reasonably comfortable speaking for those who bemoan the state of F1 these days.

For some, the end simply does not justify the means.

Moving on to the race, I'm not quite sure why so many people - not just here, but across a few F1 sites - are making a big deal about Ferrari's qualifying "woes." It may very well be that the team screwed up or isn't fast enough, but I'm more inclined to believe Ferrari qualified pretty much as intended. They can start the race on fresh primes and extend while everyone ahead of them will be on the options they used in qualifying. That seems like an awfully good strategy to me, especially on a circuit that's not exactly known as an overtaker's paradise.

The Pirellis have turned conventional wisdom on its head. For that reason, I'm making the bold prediction that Alonso and Massa will one-stop their way to a 1-2 finish.

(Considering my luck, though, I may have just given them the kiss of death.)

[Steven]

Here's Vettel's pole lap compared to his pole in 2010.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo2Ou0M7de4[/youtube]
Bigger topspeed now, better laptime then. You can clearly see the difference is made in the final section of high speed corners where the RB6 clearly had an advantage.

[andartop]

Moving on to the race, I'm not quite sure why so many people - not just here, but across a few F1 sites - are making a big deal about Ferrari's qualifying "woes." It may very well be that the team screwed up or isn't fast enough, but I'm more inclined to believe Ferrari qualified pretty much as intended. They can start the race on fresh primes and extend while everyone ahead of them will be on the options they used in qualifying. That seems like an awfully good strategy to me, especially on a circuit that's not exactly known as an overtaker's paradise.

The Pirellis have turned conventional wisdom on its head. For that reason, I'm making the bold prediction that Alonso and Massa will one-stop their way to a 1-2 finish.

(Considering my luck, though, I may have just given them the kiss of death.)

I agree Ferrari performed exactly as they should; the difference in Q2 from fastest man Grosjean was 0.218sec for Alonso and 0.291sec for Massa. Considering previous quali results that's not bad at all. They were just caught out because the whole field was so tight. Now, I don't think this was their original plan to stay out of Q3, but they sure seem to have a pretty good chance of high points finishes with both drivers, as long as they can make the tires work, and as long as DRS overtakes are possible. I wouldn't go as far as to expect a win though, let alone a 1-2 finish!

[bhall]

A man can dream. Besides, predicting points isn't exactly bold, now is it?

[marcush.]

the question is :how much is the advanatge of having new unused rubber and how is the degradation for all involved.As we have seen in recent races some car and driver combos can extract incredible performance and endurance from tyres where even teammates struggle .
So is this a setup or a driver issue or is it simply the nature of the tyre-being a random performance item?
By the looks of things absolute grip numbers seem to be the same for everyone -as all are driving the same 1 lap times- so the absolute performance of the tyre is accessible to all driv ers -but not the endurance bit-

Could it be the performance of the tyre is a flat curve in terms of slip angle vs grip but only for say 5minutes of its life?
After this the tyres deviate considerably fromcar to car and driver to driver according to how the drivers extract performance from them .
Perez for example does not look like he is not aggressive ,same with Hamilton but still they can push and in perez case he can make the tyres last awfully long.

[fenix4life]

And glock is out.
Bit ashame they didn't let the tirhd driver get his chance

L'Allemand Timo Glock (Marussia) ne participera pas au Grand Prix d'Europe, dimanche après-midi sur le circuit urbain de Valence, en raison d'une "infection intestinale", a annoncé son écurie dimanche matin.

"Les médecins lui ont suggéré qu'il n'était pas raisonnable de participer à la course, en raison de l'intensité de ses douleurs, et qu'il ferait mieux de se concentrer sur sa récupération", précise l'écurie russe dans un communiqué.

Glock, 30 ans, n'avait déjà pas pu participer aux qualifications samedi après-midi, pour la même raison, mais avait été repêché par la direction de course grâce à ses temps des essais libres vendredi et samedi matin.

"Timo est de bonne humeur, s'est reposé samedi soir dans son hôtel et rentrera chez lui ce dimanche", conclut le texte.

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