Formula 1 CFA Comments
Japanese GP 2012 - QF
by Cato Batista, 05/10/2012 19:49:52
Ladies and Gentlemen,
No doubt the battle for Suzuka will be between McLaren and Red Bull. Results from Friday’s practice sessions are always inconclusive but it’s clear that the fastest cars on low-fuel qualifying-simulation are the RB8 and the MP4-27. When analysing the long-runs on race trim the picture is not so clear: the Red Bull appears to be 0.4 seconds quicker than McLaren on the same prime tyres, although you can never be sure what fuel loads the teams are running to deceive their competitors. Ferrari is looking better here than in Singapore, Alonso’s best times were very close to Hamilton’s and both his and Massa’s were competitive on their 10-lap simulation stints on the options, but it looks like it could be Lotus that will emerge as the 3rd-best team comes race day. Grosjean was flying on heavy loads, Raikkonen had understeer issues on critical sector 1 and had KERS problems but both E20 are showing real pace around here.
P1 BUT (1.34.507) HAM WEB ROS SCH KOB MAS DIR HUL MAL (ALO 11th)
P2- WEB (1.32.493) HAM VET HUL ALO GRO BUT SEN MAS SCH
The unforgiving nature of Suzuka claimed its first victims today: Schumacher, DiResta and Petrov experienced off track accidents. The drivers relate the speeds of this place to those of Spa ‘without run-off areas...’ Most disappointing was DIR losing valuable track time, Force India is fighting with ...
Japanese GP 2012 - Preview
by Cato Batista, 04/10/2012 23:44:41
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let’s get prepared for the Japanese GP this weekend, round 15 of the 2012 Championship.
As you know, the most important news since the last race are the changes on the drivers’ line ups for next year with Hamilton going to Mercedes, Perez to McLaren and Schumacher retiring from the sport for the second time.
It is hard to imagine Hamilton leaving a winning team like McLaren for Mercedes, although money was a strong motivator the reason might be that he wants to be on the front line with a top engine manufacturer when the rules change in 2014 and the V6 turbo engine will be introduced. To the delight of the large Mexican CFA presence PEerez was signed up by McLaren to replace Hamilton for 32 million dollars for 3 years, and it has now permeated that the Sauber driver was the Mercedes choice as well to take Schumacher’s place.
As the entire world wonders what’s going to happen to Massa’s seat, the reason for Ferrari delaying their decision on his replacement and passing on the opportunity to sign the Mexican comes from their interest in getting Vettel in 2014 when his contract with Red Bull expires. Facing the possibility that none of the desired drivers (Hulkemberg, DResta, Kovalainen) wants a one-year only contract, we may see again Massa alongside Alonso next year. The Brazilian holds the Ferrari record for the largest spell of races (35) without a podium finish...
But all of that is next year. Let’s now move back ...
Singapore GP 2012 - Results- Matias' second victory
by Cato Batista, 23/09/2012 19:17:18
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A mechanical failure in Hamilton’s McLaren handed victory to Vettel and a podium for Alonso. This was only the second win of the season for the reigning Champion. Alonso continues to lead the standings with a similar breathing room as we have 6 races left, but it’s evident that McLaren now has the car to beat.
Matias has now won his second GP of the year with 9 points, 2 ahead of Alberto, the only members to score two 3-pointers. HAM’s retirement demolished our predictions sending down the average marks to 4.5 points. Matias was the only one to hit 3 points with Button in second place, like 10 other colleagues he predicted Alonso’s podium position (3rd) and collected 3 singles including Rosberg who went unmarked by all (except Rodrigo). Alberto, Lou and Erik were only ones to forecast Vettel as the race winner, and besides rookie Ian Mac scoring 3 points with Raikkonen in 6th the rest of the columns went blank.
The top of the Championship table remains unchanged with Rocco holding off Uwe by a 3 point margin (97-94), but the chasing group is so competitive that even this low-scoring race has rearranged the order. Santiago continues his steady ascendance as of late to claim 3rd (90) pushing Manbos to 4th who’s being tied by resurgent Maria (88). Joe dropped to 5th (87), Fredrik lost several spots with his worst score of the season and now sits tied with Fernando (86) in 6th; Champ Ian is losing ground (85) and Matias has now ...
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Singapore GP 2012 - Race
by Cato Batista, 22/09/2012 22:09:01
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Fourth pole in a row for McLaren. Hamilton was quickest when it matter the most, at the end of Q3. Vettel was third after dominating every single session behind Maldonado who pulled off another of his surprises to start in the front row tomorrow. Button was next ahead of Alonso with DiResta in 6th in front of Webber to confirm Force India’s great form in practice. Only the Lotus of Grosjean made the cut and both Mercedes sat out Q3 to save tyres and keep their options open to choose the best compound at the start of the race.
We had most of our selections destroyed by Maldonado with a total of only 8 colleagues scoring points, with Maria, Champ Ian and Ricky collecting 2 points (1-3) and singles for Carlos, Fernando, Fredrik, Curro and Lou. Our 2012 record is so pathetically bad that even our best performers (Rocco -12, Joe, Fernando & Ian-11) have averages below 1 point per QF session! Save the comments...
The grid for tomorrow:
HAM MAL VET BUT ALO DIR WEB GRO SCH ROS
This is the most difficult GP the teams are facing this season. Driver fatigue, mechanical stress and strategy make this a race of attrition that only the strongest will survive. For the drivers this is more like a Marathon than a ‘normal’ race: it’s hot and humid, the bumps and bouncing over the kerbs torture them constantly in the longest race in the calendar (close to the 2 hour limit), ...
Copyright 2001-2025 MANBOS