Formula 1 CFA Comments
Abu Dhabi GP 2012 - Race
by Cato Batista, 04/11/2012 3:26:38
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It was total domination by Hamilton, he was 3 and a half tenths faster than second place Webber and still had some in reserve. Vettel had brake problems in P3 losing valuable time in preparation for QF, his RB8 wasn’t the car 'on rails’ of lately on his way to third on the grid (he hit the wall in Q1). Alonso couldn’t improve his personal lap times in any of the final QF sessions to finish seventh, he admitted he couldn’t extract another drop of performance out of the Ferrari. Maldonado made another surprising appearance near the front this time in fourth place just ahead of Raikkonen, the Lotus looking like the3rd best car of the lot.
It was another difficult QF for us to decode: Fredrick was the best of us hitting a 1-2 for 2 points, same as Lou & Tim (1-3), another 9 colleagues pick up single points.
The grid for tomorrow:
HAM WEB VET* MAL RAI BUT ALO ROS MAS GRO (*see bottom)
If Red Bull introduced 3 stages of upgrades to the RB8 during the last 3 races, Ferrari is now using the parts designed and produced since they shot down their wind tunnel and moved to Toyota’s facility in Cologne: front wing end plates (introduced in India) and one week later they are testing a new aero package – front wing, turning vanes (vertical pieces between the front wheels and the monocoque) and most importantly, rear wing. The biggest problem with the F2012 is that ...
Abu Dhabi 2012 - QF
by Cato Batista, 02/11/2012 19:38:16
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Abu Dhabi seems to be Vettel & Hamilton’s territory; they monopolized poles and victories in the last 3 editions of this GP. Same story today: HAM was fastest in P1 (VET 3rd) and VET in P2 (HAM 2nd).
The track is becoming much faster as the rubber builds in, as much as 1.5 seconds between sessions. Second practice is programmed to simulate the day-to-night changing conditions that will happen during the race with the big drop in track temperature that follows after the sun goes down. As has been the pattern must of the year Red Bull has the fastest package to solve the single lap-low weight QF conditions, with Ferrari showing the way in the race long-run simulation. McLaren sits usually in the middle although they are looking very close to Red Bull to dispute them the pole for tomorrow.
P1- HAM (1.43.285) BUT VET ALO WEB SCH ROS MAL BOT (Bottas, Wiliiams tester) RAI - MAS 11th
P2 – VET (1.41.571) HAM BUT WEB GRO RAI ALO MAS MAL PER
For Red Bull focusing on the task of starting at the front has been their winning formula , it could work again in this layout as long as like in the past they have a good start (and Webber is watching Vettel’s back) so they can build a gap before the second lap when DRS kicks in and they can dominate from the front. If McLaren or Ferrari can’t match Red Bull QF-speed they will have to compromise again with a longer 7th gear (to optimize DRS), less downforce to have better chances ...
Abu Dhabi 2012 - Preview
by Cato Batista, 01/11/2012 18:39:03
Ladies and Gentlemen,
And there were three...
Eighteenth round of the Championship coming up in Abu Dhabi, the spectacular circuit that produces anything but spectacular races. Let’s hope that changes this year.
The last GP in India has brought opposite opinions among the CFA members; some complained the lack of passing –there were only 6 overtaken manoeuvres (3 by ALO) among the top 15 drivers- but others enjoy the intensity of the racing and of course the battle between the 3 World Champions -Button, Hamilton, Alonso- in the opening stages that was an amazing display of precision skills. For the first time this season that was a one-stop race for the top runners mainly due to the conservative compound selection by Pirelli. The low friction surface of the Buddh Circuit generated something we hadn’t seen in ages: flat out racing for the entire distance, none of this careful, gentle balance between going fast and nursing the rubber. These conditions made for a fantastic GP although not necessarily for us watching from the outside. The true racers among the drivers were delighted, particularly HAM who said felt liberated as he was able to attack throughout the race.
For Abu Dhabi Pirelli is providing the 2 choices in the middle of their range: soft/yellow and medium/white, the intention is for 2 stops for a wider variety of strategies. They are looking to make the drivers to push from beginning to end by using 3 set of tyres during the race, the surface is low-wear ...
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Indian GP 2012 - Results - a perfect score!!
by Cato Batista, 28/10/2012 23:51:24
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Fourth win on the trot for Vettel but Alonso keeps the Championship alive with a great drive to second place. The big three teams monopolize the top six places and except for the hard charging Spaniard there were not position changes from the starting order.
The amazing news is the perfect first to sixth predictions by Rocco for the maximum achievable 18 points. Now, he is the official CFA franchise holder but for some time he has accepted that his vast F1 knowledge is far inferior to his son Joe, so he proudly admits that the Junior Karting Champion has earned all the household points for the 2012 season. The fact is Ladies and Gentlemen that we are being badly beaten by a 12 year old kid, his Championship lead looking insurmountable with 3 races to go. It seems that the best we can do to stop him is to dig up one of those many obscure CFA rules that we rarely use, like making sure all pool participants have legal drivers’ licence, something like that. Let’s talk.
It is an incredible achievement, particularly in a season where we’d been continually fighting with our worst marks. Only once in our long history we managed such feat, it was in the 2003 season when the Ferrari-Schumacher-Barrichello-Ross Brawn-Bridgestone combo was winning everything making the 1-2 an easy pick and Lou and I hit the jackpot. We had many 15-pointers since then, the next maximum best mark, but a full 6 out of 6 nowadays is really an historic milestone. ...
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