2016 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Yas Marina, 25-27 November

[basti313]

Vettel must be not happy, he was doing a great lap but a yellow flag caused by Max has destroyed his chance of being thrird.

Wow, even with his mistakes Max still destroys Ferrari´s best chances.

??? I thought the yellow flag was much earlier. And he is not far away from where the Ferrari belongs. Simply 2 tenth slower in the last sector.
But this will be the race in this race: Bulls vs Ferraris. If everything stays like it is on the start, my bet is on Ves doing a very early stop to put pressure on the Ferraris. I do not think RedBull will allow Ferrari the undercut but the Ferraris may be able to stay close with the US tires.

[lasorey77]

Vettel must be not happy, he was doing a great lap but a yellow flag caused by Max has destroyed his chance of being thrird.

Wow, even with his mistakes Max still destroys Ferrari´s best chances.

Vettel was complaining on the radio
about Ricciardo holding him up

[lasorey77]

Vettel was complaining on the radio about Ricciardo holding him up

[RedNEO]

ricciardo worries me a bit. After max got all the plaudits in Brazil he will no doubt want to be a hero into turn one with some kind of late dive or a putting his wing in the path of rosbergs rear tyres.

If rosberg is safe I can go back to watching Alonso's progress calmly..

[basti313]

P2 is a good starting position here. No idea why, but P1 lost quite often some places in the last 5 years. Maybe because both starting positions are off the racing line and P2 has the inside of turn 1.
So if Ros just stays on the inside, there is not much room for a dive.

[notsofast]

Any discussion about the technical troubles that Torro Rosso seem to be having this weekend? It seems to me that this should have been a bigger story.

[Wynters]

Hmm, Hulkenberg right behind Verstappen who will, in turn, be itching to get past the Ferraris...odds on Hulk making it around the first corner with his front wing intact?

Good job from Hamilton today. Good job from Rosberg and Alonso too. Button lost time between Q1 and Q2, a similar improvement to the rest of the field would likely have seen him in the Top 10 as well.

What has happened to Vettel? Feels like he should get the prize for 'most underwhelming performance' this season (although I'll need to check back the 'mechanical issues' list to be sure).

[NathanOlder]

Here's a hypothetical question.

Just say Nico did slam in to Lewis at T1 and it was totally on purpose, what do you think the FIA/Stewards would do ?

[PlatinumZealot]

If he loses his front wing and Lewis continues I am OK with that.

[Wynters]

Here's a hypothetical question.

Just say Nico did slam in to Lewis at T1 and it was totally on purpose, what do you think the FIA/Stewards would do ?

If there's any way to spin it as a racing incident? Nothing. To be clear, not because of any 'anti-Rosberg' conspiracy but because having the title decided by a steward's decision would be another bullet to the foot of the sport.

Regardless, I can't see him risking it. Even with a ripped up sidepod, a Merc could probably climb to third on this track. Rosberg will get around the course for the first lap, then dial his engine down to 'lawnmower' and cruise around, nice and safe. I'm not even sure I would fight for second, if I was in his shoes (in the very unlikely event that someone challenges him after lap 1).

[RedNEO]

Any discussion about the technical troubles that Torro Rosso seem to be having this weekend? It seems to me that this should have been a bigger story.

I dunno if you watched teds notebook but he did cover that when he spoke to John Booth from the team. It was a brake drum issue but he is confident it's all fixed now.

[f1316]

If he did that in the *race*, precedent (Michael '97) says he would get a punishment that would affect something we're not allowed to talk about here...

Then again, previous precedent (Senna '90) says you get away scot free and are hailed as the greatest of all time by people who criticise Schumacher for the same thing...but then we're really off topic!

[search]

I didn't know that the red tire (additionally to the yellow one) is mandatory for the race... so if Red Bull can more or less follow the Mercedes and manage to do a one stop, they could really end up with a chance to win

What the heck did Williams do there yesterday then, cruising around with the red (race) tires in Q1?!

[ChrisDanger]

[iotar__]

"Maximum XX laps?

New Senna without speed again? Do you think Berger will come out and say he hasn't seen qualifying like that since young 40 year old Fangio? No, like 90% of unpleasant reality it will be ignored in only good news marketing world.