F1 2013

[gotosy]

Australian GP1.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1h30m03.225s 2.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                  + 12.451s 3.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault         + 22.346s 4.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                  + 33.577s 5.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes                 + 45.561s 6.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault         + 46.800s 7.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   + 1m05.068s 8.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   + 1m08.449s 9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m21.630s10.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault          + 1m22.759s11.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m23.367s12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     + 1m23.857s13.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari             + 1 lap14.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault           + 1 lap15.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          + 1 lap16.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault         +  2 laps17.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth        +  2 laps18.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault         +  2 laps

Drivers Championship

 1.  Raikkonen      25         2.  Alonso         18         3.  Vettel         15       4.  Massa          12        5.  Hamilton       10         6.  Webber          8         7.  Sutil           6        8.  Di Resta        4        9.  Button          2       10.  Grosjean        1   

[Bezzi]

Well done Ferrari. You trashed Massa's race.

[Rob2012]

Not a terribly exciting race, all about strategy in the end. Looks like it's going to be a close season though, which is a good thing.

RE: Ferrari, I think Alonso asked to be pitted to get himself out of traffic. I don't think Massa had the forethought to ask for that. Obviously Ferrari have sacrificed Massa on Alonso's altar before, but I'm not sure that was the case today. I think everyone was a bit shocked at just how much quicker those tyres were as well. Fine margins, and one lap made the difference. He still finished 4th, pretty good result anyway!

[gotosy]

Malaysia qualifying

Vettel on pole, Massa P2, Alonso P3

[gotosy]

Malaysia Qualifying

1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m49.674s            2.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m50.587s  + 0.913s  3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m50.727s  + 1.053s  4.  Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m51.699s  + 2.025s  5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m52.244s  + 2.570s  6.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m52.519s  + 2.845s  7.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m52.970s  + 3.296s  8.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m53.175s  + 3.501s  9.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m53.439s  + 3.765s 10.  Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes     1m54.136s  + 4.462s 11.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m37.636s  + 1.446s12.  Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.125s  + 1.935s13.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.822s  + 2.632s14.  Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m39.221s  + 3.031s15.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m44.509s  + 8.319s16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     no time17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.157s  + 1.348s18.  Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault     1m38.207s  + 1.398s19.  Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth    1m38.434s  + 1.625s20.  Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault     1m39.314s  + 2.505s21.  Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth    1m39.672s  + 2.863s22.  Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault     1m39.932s  + 3.123s

[gotosy]

Raikkone given three-place grid penalty for impeding Rosberg. Drops to 10th behind Button, Sutil and Perez.

[gotosy]

Vettel wins Webber P2, Hamilton P3

Fantastic battle between the RBr and mercedes

[gotosy]

The Malaysian GP

1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault            2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault           +     4.298 3.  Hamilton       Mercedes                   +      12.1 4.  Rosberg        Mercedes                   +    12.640 5.  Massa          Ferrari                    +      25.6 6.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault              +      35.5 7.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +      48.4 8.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari             +      53.0 9.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes           +      72.310.  Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +      87.111.  Bottas         Williams-Renault           +      88.612.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap13.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap14.  Pic            Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap15.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap16.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps17.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes           +          18.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +          19.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault           +          20.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes       +          21.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes       +          22.  Alonso         Ferrari                    +          

Drivers Championship

1.  Vettel         40         2.  Raikkonen      31         3.  Webber         26         4.  Hamilton       25         5.  Massa          22         6.  Alonso         18         7.  Rosberg        12        8.  Grosjean        9         9.  Sutil           6       10.  Di Resta        4       11.  Hulkenberg      4       12.  Button          2       13.  Perez           2       14.  Vergne          1       

[gotosy]

Vettel apologises to Webber for ignoring team orders

Sebastian Vettel has apologised for beating Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber to win the Malaysian Grand Prix against team orders.

Webber had led much of the race and came out of the pits after his final stop just ahead of a challenging Vettel.

Despite Red Bull asking its drivers to hold station and to turn the engines down and look after the tyres, Vettel continued to attack.

After running very close to the pitwall as he challenged Webber, Vettel made it by to secure his first victory of 2013.

Webber made his displeasure obvious after the race and Vettel has now apologised.

"At end I felt I had strong pace and on a new set of medium tyres I had a bit more speed and it was a close fight, but I did a big mistake today," said the triple champion.

"We should have stayed in the positions we were in. I didn't ignore it [the order] on purpose but I messed up in that situation.

"I took the lead from Mark, which I can see now he is upset about, but I want to be honest and stick to truth, and apologise.

"I took quite a lot of risk to pass him and I should have behaved better.

"It doesn't help his feelings right now. Apologies to Mark and now result is there, but all I can say is that I didn't do it deliberately."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106338

[Faster]

And that is what is frustrating about F1. How should team orders supercede race quality. Vettel was the better driver today and rightfully won and Roseburg was better than Hamilton and should have gotten third.

[gotosy]

Chinese GP Qualifying

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m34.484s
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m34.761s + 0.277
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.788s + 0.304
4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m34.861s + 0.377
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m34.933s + 0.449
6. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m35.364s + 0.880
7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.998s + 1.514
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m05.673s + 31.189
9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault no time
10. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari no time

11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m36.287s + 1.209s
12. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.314s + 1.236s
13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m36.405s + 1.327s
14. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.679s + 1.601s
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m37.139s + 2.061s
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.199s + 2.121s

17. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m37.769s + 1.976
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.990s + 2.197
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m38.780s + 2.987
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m39.537s + 3.744
21. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m39.614s + 3.821
22. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m39.660s + 3.867

[gotosy]

Webber to start from back after fuel penalty

Red Bull's Mark Webber will have to start from the back of the grid after being penalised for running out of fuel in the second round of qualifying.

...

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/189789/1/f1_china_2013_webber_to_start_from_back_after_fuel_penalty.html

[Rob2012]

I hope Vettel's strategy doesn't work. Or if it does, I hope the FIA can rule that we have unlimited tyres in qualifying in future. Because if it does work, we could have a lot of boring Q3s this season!

[gotosy]

Chinese GP

1. Alonso Ferrari 1h36:26.945
2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 10.100s
3. Hamilton Mercedes + 12.300s
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 12.500s
5. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 35.200s
6. Massa Ferrari + 40.800s
7. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 42.600s
8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 51.000s
9. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 53.400s
10. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari + 56.500s
11. Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 1m03.800s
12. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m12.600s
13. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1m33.800s
14. Bottas Williams-Renault + 1m35.400s
15. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
16. Pic Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
17. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
18. van der Garde Caterham-Renault + 1 lap

Drivers Championship

1. Vettel 52
2. Raikkonen 49
3. Alonso 43
4. Hamilton 40
5. Massa 30
6. Webber 26
7. Button 12
8. Rosberg 12
9. Grosjean 11
10. Di Resta 8
11. Ricciardo 6
12. Sutil 6
13. Hulkenberg 5
14. Perez 2
15. Vergne 1

[Rob2012]

Good race in the end; and the cream rises to the top. The five World Champions in the top five positions (has that ever happened before?), and all of them drove classy races for different reasons.

Alonso totally dominant, had a pit stop in hand. He took the Championship to the last race with a less-good car this year, but now Ferrari have given him something good and he's looking scarily good.

Lewis and Kimi both drove the wheels of their car to make their strategies work and were close together all race. Kimi did especially well given his broken nose and front-wing.

Vettel nearly gained 11 seconds in four laps. As a Hamilton fan glad he just missed the podium but bloody exciting stuff.

And for Button to beat a Ferrari in this McLaren was superb. Kept his tyres in good condition and hung on. Really dominating that team now.

We needed that after Malaysia.

[Rob2012]

Forgot to add, was mightily impressed by Alonso's racing brain during this race too. Overtaking cars in between the DRS detection point and the start of the DRS zone is brilliantly cheeky. You're ahead of them yet you get DRS and they don't!

All the World Champions had great races today, but Alonso really did outshine everyone else.

[gotosy]

Bahrain GP Qualifying

Rosberg takes pole

[gotosy]

Bahrain GP Starting Grid

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.330s
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.584s + 0.254s
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m32.667s + 0.337s
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m33.207s + 0.877s
5. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m33.235s + 0.905s

6. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.246s + 0.916s

7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m33.078s + 0.748s PEN

8. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m33.327s + 0.997s

9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m32.762s + 0.432s PEN

10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes

11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m33.762s + 1.016s
12. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.914s + 1.168s
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.974s + 1.228s
14. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.976s + 1.230s
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m34.105s + 1.359s
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.284s + 1.538s

17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m34.425s + 1.547s
18. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m35.283s + 2.405s
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.178s + 3.300s
20. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m36.304s + 3.426s
21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.476s + 3.598s

22. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.730s + 1.852s PEN

[gotosy]

The Bahrain GP

1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 57 laps
2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 9.1s
3. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 19.5s
4. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 21.7s
5. Hamilton Mercedes + 35.2s
6. Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 35.9s
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 37.2s
8. Alonso Ferrari + 37.5s
9. Rosberg Mercedes + 41.1s
10. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 46.6s
11. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1m06.4s
12. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari + 1m12.9s
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1m16.7s
14. Bottas Williams-Renault + 1m21.5s
15. Massa Ferrari + 1m26.3s
16. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
17. Pic Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
19. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
20. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
21. van der Garde Caterham-Renault + 2 laps

Drivers Championship

1. Vettel 77
2. Raikkonen 67
3. Hamilton 50
4. Alonso 47
5. Webber 32
6. Massa 30
7. Grosjean 26
8. Di Resta 20
9. Rosberg 14
10. Button 13
11. Perez 10
12. Ricciardo 6
13. Sutil 6
14. Hulkenberg 5
15. Vergne 1

[gotosy]

Spain GP Qualifying

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.718s
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m20.972s + 0.254s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m21.054s + 0.336s
4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m21.177s + 0.459s
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m21.218s + 0.500s
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.219s + 0.501s
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m21.308s + 0.590s
8. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.570s + 0.852s
9. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.069s + 1.351s
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m22.233s + 1.515s

11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.127s + 1.126s
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.166s + 1.165s
13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m22.346s + 1.345s
14. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.166s + 2.165s
15. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.389s + 1.388s
16. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.793s + 1.792s

17. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m23.260s + 1.532s
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m23.318s + 1.590s
19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m24.661s + 2.933s
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m24.713s + 2.985s
21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m24.996s + 3.268s
22. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m25.070s + 3.342s

[gotosy]

Felipe Massa will receive a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix for impeding Mark Webber in Q2.

Esteban Gutierrez gets the same punishment for blocking Kimi Raikkonen earlier in the session.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107349

[gotosy]

Alonso wins, Raikkonen P2 and Massa P3

[gotosy]

The Spanish GP

1. Alonso Ferrari
2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault
3. Massa Ferrari
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault
6. Rosberg Mercedes
7. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes
9. Perez McLaren-Mercedes
10. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari
11. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari
12. Hamilton Mercedes
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes
14. Maldonado Williams-Renault
15. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari
16. Bottas Williams-Renault
17. Pic Caterham-Renault
18. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth
19. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth
DNF Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari
DNF van der Garde Caterham-Renault
DNF Grosjean Lotus-Renault

Drivers Championship

1. Vettel 89
2. Raikkonen 85
3. Alonso 72
4. Hamilton 50
5. Massa 45
6. Webber 42
7. Di Resta 26
8. Grosjean 26
9. Rosberg 22
10. Button 17
11. Perez 12
12. Ricciardo 7
13. Sutil 6
14. Hulkenberg 5
15. Vergne 1

[gotosy]

Honda to announce Formula One comeback

TOKYO —Honda is expected to announce shortly that it will return to Formula One in 2015 as an engine supplier to British team McLaren to revive their championship-winning partnership, a company source said Wednesday.

Honda president Takanobu Ito is to make the announcement as early as this week, the source said, confirming domestic press reports.

The Japanese automaker pulled out of F1 after the 2008 season, ending an involvement that began in the 1960s, in a bid to cut costs during the economic downturn that ravaged Japanese exports to the United States and Europe.

It sold its team to former principal Ross Brawn the next year.

A recent change in F1 rules, promoting the use of environmentally friendlier turbo engines, has made the comeback decision easier because Honda could readily transfer the technology to its commercial vehicles.

If realised, the plan would see a reunion of the McLaren-Honda alliance that conquered F1 from 1988 to 1991 with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the wheel.

Honda started racing in F1 as a full-fledged team in 1964, and stayed until 1968. During that time, it won two races.

Then, as a supplier of engines to other teams including McLaren, Williams and Lotus, it raced from 1983 to 1992 and won 69 races.

After an eight-year hiatus, Honda returned as an engine provider and then part owner of the BAR team from 2000 to 2005. In 2006 it took full control and renamed it Honda.

AFP

http://www.japantoday.com/category/sports/view/honda-to-announce-formula-one-comeback?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=news_on_twitter

[gotosy]

Monaco Qualifying

Rosberg takes pole again, Hamilton 2nd, Vettel 3rd