F1 World Championship 2013 Thread

[MightyJordan]

[Noir Angel]

First indications are, Red Bull are going to cakewalk this. Sadly, it seems the prediction was correct, change to the tyres does seem to have helped them.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[MightyJordan]

^ Ahh, you're back, Meph. :) Beat me to it by mere seconds. :P

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

^ Ahh, you're back, Meph. :) Beat me to it by mere seconds. :p

 

Yeah, I'm back after spending a holiday in London. But I digress.

 

It's impossible to make any predictions based on the free practice sessions. I'm thinking RBR will have the upper hand come qualifying - we shall see.

[MightyJordan]

The gaps between Red Bull and Mercedes are miniscule, so I reckon it'll be more of the same; Mercedes top qualifying, then Red Bull top the race tomorrow.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[Noir Angel]

Well, there goes the form book again. Great lap at the end by Lewis

[MightyJordan]

Romain Grosjean could lose his third place on the grid after his Lotus failed a post-qualifying inspection.

 

The floor of the E21 was found to move too much under when a load was applied to it.

 

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer said in a statement: ?After the qualifying practice session an asymmetric RHS front floor deflection test was carried on car numbers 01, 08 and 10 according to Article 3.17.5.?

 

?Car numbers 01 and 10 were found in conformity with Article 3.17.5 of the 2013 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.

 

?However car number 08 did not comply with Article 3.17.5 of the 2013 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations as the front floor deflected more than 5mm vertically when the load was applied vertically to it at the point which lies 100mm of car centre line on the RHS.

 

?I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.?

 

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/07/27/grosjeans-car-fails-post-qualifying-inspection/

[MightyJordan]

Romain Grosjean has avoided a penalty after his car failed a floor deflection test after qualifying at the Hungaroring.

 

Grosjean faced the threat of being demoted from third on the grid to the back of the field.

 

The stewards were told the car failed to load test because the floor had been damaged on a kerb during the qualifying session and deemed it ?a case of accidental damage, not a case of non-compliance?.

 

The stewards? findings were as follows:

 

?Based on the telemetry it was apparent that the car suffered an impact during Q2 resulting in a vertical acceleration ranging from -7.3g to +11.1g. Video evidence verified the car bottomed at turn 11 consistent with the telemetry.

 

?It is considered reasonable that this impact caused a fracture in the Floor Stay of car 8. It was confirmed by physical examination that the Floor Stay on car 8 was identical to that on car 7 which was intact. Lifing documents? (which show the history of each part) indicate the car 8 part had been fitted for in excess of 600 km including a full race.

 

?It is the conclusion of the stewards that the failure of this part was due to the impact in Q2 and subsequently caused the car to fail to meet the requirements of Article 3.17.5.

Accordingly this is deemed to be a case of accidental damage, not a case of non-compliance.?

 

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/07/27/grosjean-escapes-penalty-for-failing-floor-test/

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Man of the race: Lewis Hamilton

Reject of the race: The steward who punished Romain Grosjean. 

[MightyJordan]

I'm glad to be wrong this time. Well done, Lewis. :)

[He's Dead Jim]

Hats off to Hamilton :) Great victory

[heslo]

Great drive by Lewis. Awesome work from Webber to make up for his Q3 dramas and massive props to Kimi for fending off Vettel to keep second place. Was a great race going into the season break

[Eddo89]

Hamilton, what a race. He had an easy race because he simply knows how to overtake. Kimi's drive was really good too. 

 

Webber didn't really suffer much from his Q3 drama in reality, he was one decent start away from where he normally is (qualify like 2nd or 3rd then drop a couple places at the start) but with better strategy potentials. It was a good race for him, but it sounded like he was just being overly dramatic/frustrated over qualifying. Though I do wonder if he could had chosen his tyre choices better, or he just couldn't live with degradation. 

 

The stewards were being consistent and probably the right decision to the letter of the law, but Grosjean just can't get a break. I really hate the archaic system they use to review incidents, what are the stewards doing anyway? Twiddling their thumbs while waiting seemingly 5 laps before making a decision to review it. Is slow, and led to a punishment that did not reflect the offense. Didn't Massa drove in the pit in a couple laps anyway? He was couple seconds slower too. The decision to review need to be made within half a lap, so the driver can choose cede the position immediately in these cases. You could argue Grosjean could had been high as 2nd place (unlikely as he surely would be used as a rear gunner to Kimi) and no lower than 4th at his pace. So he lost at least 2 places because of that. Spoiled a good duel he had with Vettel. 

 

In a sport about being the fastest, they seem to try to strike a balance by having the slowest review system in all of sports. Several camera angles, should take no more than a couple minutes to decide. So half a lap to initiate review, another lap or two to draw a conclusion. I really don't see how hard it could really be. 

[simonlang]

boring race. besides hamis win, not much happend in the wdc standings. well 1 race less... 

[KiHu]

 

Reject of the race: The steward who punished Romain Grosjean. 

 

Amen.

 

Romain was rocking it today till he was punished.

 

:(((

[MightyJordan]

Grosjean given 20-second penalty but keeps sixth place

Romain Grosjean has been handed a 20-second time penalty for his collision with Jenson Button during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

 

Grosjean collided with Button at turn six while overtaking the McLaren driver on the inside.

 

He finished the race in sixth place, 21.5 seconds ahead of seventh-placed Button, so the penalty has no effect on his finishing position.

 

Grosjean admitted he was to blame for the incident: ?With Jenson I was a bit too much on the left. I think the track goes narrow and I think it was wider than that. I want to apologise and we?re fortunate that none of us got anything so that was good.?

 

Button said: ?I think it?s pretty straightforward. I couldn?t go any more left. That?s it really.?

 

?Unless I?m on the grass wich is obviously not a place I want to me when I?m breaking for a corner, he had no way of not hitting me. He obviously didn?t realise how narrow the circuit is at that corner.?

[Lingwo]

Great win from Hamilton. With a little help from Button, Vettel didn't attack early enough on him to overtake.

It is scary to think how far Mercedes would be leading the championship now if they could stop destroying tyres. They would be dominating. Plus i have to eat my words, i thought Hamilton moving to them was a bad idea but i've been proved wrong. I think a lot of us have infact.

 

Raikkonen though is still there picking up the points. He is doing what Alonso did last year and while he may not be winning, he is getting a good haul of points each race.

[MightyJordan]

Alonso under investigation for DRS breach

 

 

Fernando Alonso is under investigation following the Hungarian Grand Prix after it was found his car?s DRS had been activated when it was supposed to be disabled.

 

A post-race inspection of his Ferrari found the DRS had been used on three occasions when he was not within one second of another car.

 

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer said in a statement: ?After the race DRS activation data from car number three were analysed. It was found that the driver has activated the adjustable bodywork in three occasions when he was more than one second behind another car.?

 

?As this is not in conformity with Article 27.5 (b) of the 2013 Formula One Sporting Regulations I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.?

If like Grosjean, he gets a 20-second penalty too, he'll still be fifth, so probably meaningless.

[simonlang]

why did ross brawn went up the podium today for constructors?! could any1 explain me? usually its teamboss first, but mercedes has already had 2 wins before who was up the podium there for the team? lowe? dont think so as he just joined the team. lauda? nope would deffo have remembered that one... stays only wolf as a major team member but deffo not 2 times. 

usually you send first the team principal, then the technical director, etc. etc. as mercedes has several technical directors imho it would be my absolute dream to see them winning monza (a good chance imho) and then sending up aldo costa to rub it in ferraris face. how lovely would that be?  :laugh:  :laugh:

[MightyJordan]

No penalty for Alonso DRS misuse

Fernando Alonso has escaped punishment for using DRS when he wasn?t supposed to during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

 

The stewards found the Ferrari driver activated DRS on three occasions when he was not within a second of another car.

 

Ferrari were fined ?15,000 (?12,945) for the infringement.

 

The stewards ruled: ?The DRS enabling system was not changed by the team from the pre-race to the race setting. The driver therefore incorrectly received ?DRS enabled? messages and reacted to them (when not entitled to) on three occasions.

 

?As soon as the team became aware of the problem they informed the driver to only use DRS when told to do so by the team.

 

?Whilst a small sporting advantage (less than one second over the entire race) was gained, the team argued car three [Alonso] also suffered a disadvantage by being unable to use DRS on every legitimate occasion.

 

?However, the team is ultimately responsible for ensuring the system conforms to the regulations.?

[MightyJordan]

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Red Bull considering Fernando Alonso for 2014 Formula 1 seat

Red Bull is considering Fernando Alonso as a potential team-mate to Sebastian Vettel for 2014.

It has emerged that secret talks took place between the Spaniard's management and Formula 1's champion team at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

High level sources claim that the notion Red Bull should consider Alonso as an option for 2014 emerged in a conversation that took place between the Ferrari driver's agent Luis Garcia Abad and team boss Christian Horner at the Hungaroring on Friday.

Both Ferrari and Abad insist, however, that the talks he had with Horner were only related to a potential future for Carlos Sainz Jr, who he also represents.

While the specifics of the conversation between Abad and Horner remain disputed, Horner admitted in Hungary that the Spanish driver was now a candidate.

When asked if he could deny the Alonso talks, or rule out the Spaniard for a 2014 seat, he said: "Any conversations between any of the drivers and any of the parties will always remain confidential.

"But of course there have been quite a few drivers who have expressed an interest in the seat, as you can imagine."

ALONSO UNDER CONTRACT

The suggestion of Alonso being a free agent in the near future is a particular surprise because it had previously been thought that he was firmly tied to Ferrari until the end of 2016.

Horner said that while Alonso was being looked at, he was also unsure about the exact contractual situation, despite suggestions of break clauses.

"Is he available?" said Horner. "I don't know. You ask him."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali claimed that Alonso was firmly locked down at the team - but acknowledged that the outfit had to improve its current performance to please its driver.

"First of all we have a contract with him," said Domenicali. "No doubt, Fernando is an asset for the team.

"We need him to work very closely with everyone, because after all this is a difficult moment in the season.

"We have to deliver a job. Full stop. This is the same for everyone, not only for him."

ALONSO INSISTS HE IS HAPPY

Although Alonso is not in the championship situation he had hoped to be this season, he made it clear on Sunday that he was still "happy" at Ferrari.

The team's situation is set for a boost with imminent confirmation of James Allison's arrival in a senior technical role, although the impact of Allison's arrival will take time to show.

Horner's frankness over Alonso could also be viewed as an act of gamesmanship, at a time when the driver market is particularly fluid and the championship fight is getting more intense.

The Alonso situation could weaken Kimi Raikkonen's bargaining power in his Red Bull talks, as well as causing internal friction at Ferrari.

Equally, Abad may have known that a meeting with Horner in front of photographers at a race would fuel speculation about a potential Alonso switch ? which would serve to remind Ferrari about the Spaniard's desire to succeed.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he could confirm he would see out his Ferrari contract, and was happy to stay at Ferrari irrespective of results, Alonso said: "I am very happy.

"Obviously we need to improve the car and we are going to have chances to win the world championship.

"August with four weeks with no F1 is a very dangerous period for you guys [the media]. Hopefully we will have a quiet summer."

HORNER WANTS BEST DRIVERS

Horner said the only thing his team was interested in was putting together the strongest driver pairing it could, with Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo also being considered.

Asked about the potential dynamics of an Alonso/Vettel partnership, he said: "It would be interesting.

"At the end of the day, you have to think about what is right for the team. Obviously the pairing that we want to put together for next year has to be right for the team.

"Last week there was speculation about Kimi. This week it is about Fernando.

"I think for us we want to make sure that nothing waivers in our mind of putting together the right team package for next year with the two fastest drivers that we can, who will work collectively well together and achieve the best results for the team."

Source: Autosport

[Noir Angel]

Going from a team in which he is undisputed king to a team in which he's probably gonna be seb's bridesmaid. Can't see Fernando agreeing to that.

 

Great race however, although it was made to look there I felt it ranked up there with some of Lewis' best drives. He was absolutely masterful through the traffic today, and what's more the tyre wear wasn't any worse than anyone else's. I hope it continues because someone needs to challenge Seb soon.