F1 2011: The first Indian Grand Prix!

[Ferry_vO]

Pole for Vettel once again on this fast, slippery but fun track:

1	1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	1:26.218	1:24.657	1:24.178	16
2	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.563	1:25.019	1:24.474	18
3	2	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	1:26.473	1:25.282	1:24.508	17
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:26.774	1:25.158	1:24.519	19
5	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.225	1:25.299	1:24.950	20
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:27.012	1:25.522	1:25.122	18
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:26.364	1:25.555	1:25.451	19
8	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1:26.271	1:26.140	No time	19
9	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	1:26.608	1:26.161	No time	19
10	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	1:26.557	1:26.319	No time	19
11	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1:26.189	1:26.319		20
12	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:26.790	1:26.337		17
13	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:26.864	1:26.503		15
14	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	1:26.829	1:26.537		18
15	9	Bruno Senna	Renault	1:26.766	1:26.651		16
16	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1:27.479	1:27.247		17
17	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:27.249	1:27.562		10
18	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:27.876			6
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1:28.565			13
20	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	1:28.752			13
21	23	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT-Cosworth	1:30.216			11
22	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:30.238			11
23	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	1:30.866			14
DNQ	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1:34.046			3
		Q1 107% Time		1:32.222

<tbody>
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There are some penalties that will be applied before the start of the race though; Petrov five places for his crash in Korea, Perez and Hamilton three places for ignoring yellow flags in practice 1 and Ricciardo five places for replacing a gearbox.

 

[wombat666]

It would be a great circuit if it wasn't for the grossly polluted atmosphere.
Rather see it in a country with a clean environment.
Hamilton is a bit stiff starting with a three position penalty as I doubt anyone could have done anything other than he did in the yellow flag situation.

 

[Ferry_vO]

Setting your fastest sector time under yellow flags means you'll get a penalty. When you see a yellow flag, you take your foot off the pedal.

Karthikeyan got a penalty too, for blocking Schumacher in Q1. Shame as both HRT cars qualified in front of the Virgin cars for the first time!

 

[Naismith]

It would be a great circuit if it wasn't for the grossly polluted atmosphere.
Rather see it in a country with a clean environment..

Because Formula 1 is renowned for being enviromentally conscious and green friendly. lol

 

[wombat666]

I've been unfortunate to have 'visited' India (under duress) twice, some postings one has to take on and endure.
Certainly not a Nation I'd visit voluntarily, believe me, the 'Urban Industrial Sprawl' was bad 20 odd years ago, from the TV coverage it looks even worse today.
Of course F1 is not environmental friendly, but why combine it with a poisonous environment?
Money rules, obviously, ergo India, China, Korea, Malaysia, the 'Sand and Sandals' venues and Singapore are able to buy their way in.
The 'Formula 1 Grand Prix of Chernobyl' has a nice ring to it and the cost of land for a circuit would be nice and low.

 

[Wing_Z]

Brilliant Track!

Well, being beamed out to a TV audience of half a billion will put some pressure on India to clean up...

This is surely Hermann Tilke's best track design, and I suspect it will become one of the most respected in the world.
It has everything to challenge the modern F1 driver, just look how many of them were not able to stitch together a perfect lap.
And not a track which forgives sloppiness - Felipe Massa managed to break the Ferrari's suspension short-cutting a kerb, and I can't remember when I last saw that in F1.

Plenty of challenge opportunities too, looking forward to a great race!

 

[Ferry_vO]

Vettel again..

Getting slightly boring! No one's able to stop him.. Today he broke the 'most laps in the lead in one season' record, which still belonged to Nigel Mansell.

Don't know why Massa was penalized and not Hamilton though..

Results:

1	1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	60	1:30:35.002	1	25
2	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+8.4 secs	4	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	60	+24.3 secs	3	15
4	2	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	60	+25.5 secs	2	12
5	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	60	+65.4 secs	11	10
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	60	+66.8 secs	7	8
7	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+84.1 secs	5	6
8	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	59	+1 Lap	10	4
9	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	59	+1 Lap	8	2
10	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	59	+1 Lap	20	1
11	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	59	+1 Lap	16
12	9	Bruno Senna	Renault	59	+1 Lap	14
13	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	59	+1 Lap	12
14	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	58	+2 Laps	18
15	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	15
16	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	57	+3 Laps	21
17	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	57	+3 Laps	23
18	23	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT-Cosworth	57	+3 Laps	22
19	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	55	+5 Laps	19
Ret	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	32	+28 Laps	6
Ret	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	24	+36 Laps	9
Ret	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	12	+48 Laps	13
Ret	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	2	+58 Laps	24
Ret	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	0	+60 Laps	17

<tbody>
<th>Pos</th><th>No</th><th>Driver</th><th>Team</th><th>Laps</th><th>Time/Retired</th><th>Grid</th><th title="Points">Pts</th>
</tbody>

 

[wombat666]

It was all so rivetting I really did doze off this time.........
Excellent circuit, shame about the location.

 

[Naismith]

Getting slightly boring!

F1 has not been greatly exciting for some considerable time. I know what would make it entertaining, stick a gear shift and a clutch pedal in the cars and thereby invoke driver ability over fancy automatic systems.

 

[Wing_Z]

Getting slightly boring! ...Don't know why Massa was penalized and not Hamilton though..

Well the first half certainly was a little pedestrian, I think Hamilton must've been a little bored too!
He does have a thing about Ferrari..

One of the more extraordinary Stewards' decisions this year, poor Felipe becomes Even Poorer Felipe.
There he was, minding his own business, driving toward his customary 6th place...

 

[wombat666]

Said it before and I'll say it again, Massa is a dud.

 

[Panther_99FS]

Don't know why Massa was penalized and not Hamilton though..

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/arti...e-avoided-lewis-hamilton-crash-johnny-herbert

 

[wombat666]

Coulthard fears the stewards issued the penalty not objectively, but in the context of Hamilton and Massa's increasingly poisoned feud.

"It was almost as if they felt that — with Lewis receiving so many decisions against him this year — they were trying to redress the balance," he said.

The thought that crossed my mind almost to the letter.

 

[Panther_99FS]

Yes..
It would have been interesting to see how things *might* have been had Schumacher been penalized more often in his earlier career.....