2015 F1 News and Prediction Tournament

[Pleng]

Well there's always been gains to be made from having the car work well with the tyres. However, back in the Goodyear/Bridgestone/Michellin days the difference between a good setup on the tyres and a bad one was about a couple of tenths a lap - and that's exactly where it should be - not a second and a half. Same story with differences in laptime between a brand new set and an old set. A couple of tenths here and there is reasonable, indeed genuine. Going a couple of seconds a lap faster just because you'v put on a new set of Pijellies is ridiculous.

Unfortunately Bernie is so far into bed with Pirelli that it looks like they'll be renewing their tender into the future

[PeteC]

The world has change. Will it revert back with the next race(s)?

http://planetf1.com/news/race-vettel-cl ... apore-win/
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/34308250

1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 2:01.22.118
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1.4
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 17.1
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 24.7
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 34.2
6 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 35.5
7 Sergio Perez Force India 50.8
8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 51.4
9 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 52.8
10 Felipe Nasr Sauber 90.0
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 97.5
12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 97.7
13 Romain Grosjean Lotus 2 laps
14 Alexander Rossi Manor 2 laps
15 Will Stevens Manor 2 laps

Did Not Finish
Jenson Button McLaren +9 laps
Fernando Alonso McLaren 28 laps
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 29 laps
Felipe Massa Williams 31 laps
Nico Hulkenberg Force India 49 laps

Bsdk1960 had the best race with 17.5 points, and it was a hard race to get that many points! The top three are now Lindosfan, Pharvey and Pete/Vital Spark.

1 - lindosfan 199.00
2 ▲3 pharvey 193.50
3 ▼1 Pete 191.50
4 ▲2 Vital Spark 191.50
5 ▲2 mwbrown 189.50
6 ▼2 BigBoy 189.50
7 ▲3 bsdk1960 (Yellow Cap) 188.00
8 ▼5 redzonerocker 187.50
9 - Parahandy 183.00
10 ▼2 Terry 180.50
11 - JJBones 98.00
12 - Richard 58.00
13 - buksida 20.50

Quick turnaround this week with Japan next weekend. Good luck to all!

Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka Circuit

http://planetf1.com/grand-prix/japan/circuit-guide/

Qualifying
Saturday 26 Sep 15:00 (local)
Saturday 26 Sep 13:00 (Thai time)

Race
Sunday 27 Sep 14:00 (local)
Sunday 27 Sep 12:00 (Thai time)

[PeteC]

php5HmpT6PM.jpg (96.2 KiB) Viewed 556 times

[PeteC]

......Ricciardo had the fastest lap.

[PeteC]

Now that I've gotten all the paperwork out of the way I have time to read some race reports. Once again, they're suggesting that Mercedes got the tires wrong. the f'ing tires again!

The BBC suggests through some correspondent that perhaps Eccelstone told Pirelli to slip in hard tires to Mercedes labeled as soft to spice up the day. Extreme and most likely wrong but what is the state of Planet Eccelstone for journalists and assuredly others to even think that? Pete

[Nereus]

Briton charged for intruding into Singapore Grand Prix race track

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/ ... race-track

SINGAPORE - A British man who walked across the track during the Singapore Grand Prix was charged in court Tuesday for committing a "rash act" that endangered the lives of drivers.

A charge sheet said Yogvitam Pravin Dhokia, 27, endangered the "personal safety of the drivers" when he crossed the track while the Singapore grand prix was in full swing on Sunday night on the street circuit in the central business district of the city-state.

It said he was accused of committing an offence under the penal code punishable with imprisonment of up to six months or a maximum fine of Sg$2,500 ($1,769), or both.

"We can confirm the arrest of a British national in Singapore and we stand ready to provide consular assistance," a spokesperson for the British High Commission told AFP in an email.

Dhokia's passport was impounded and bail was set at Sg$15,000 but the Briton said he could not afford the amount, local media reported.

"I'm not working currently. I spent all my savings on tickets. I don't really have that kind of money," state broadcaster Channel NewsAsia quoted him as telling District Judge Ronald Gwee...........................................>

[Terry]

And he has a great 'British' name................

[PeteC]

Somewhat of another crazy result with P2. Caution if you're going to make picks prior to qualifying. It was raining in Japan for P2 I believe. Pete

http://www.bbc.com/sport/live/formula1/32543239

[PeteC]

Qualifying results for Japan:

1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.584
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.660 0.076
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:33.024 0.440
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.245 0.661
5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:33.337 0.753
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:33.347 0.763
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:33.497 0.913
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:33.967 1.383
9 Sergio Perez Force India No time
10 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull No time
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:34.390
12 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:34.453
13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:34.497
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:34.785
15 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso No time
16 Jenson Button McLaren 1:35.664
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:35.673
18 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:35.760
19 Will Stevens Manor 1:38.783
20 Alexander Rossi Manor 1:47.114

[PeteC]

Hamilton wins and has the fastest lap. Every car finished, no retirements, which is a 1st this season I think. NOTE: The BBC has Nasr retiring on lap 49. I don't know if they're correct, or Planet F1 where I got the result list?

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/34372636

01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28:06.508 (Fastest Lap)
02 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 18.9
03 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 20.8
04 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 33.7
05 Valtteri Bottas Williams 36.7
06 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 55.5
07 Romain Grosjean Lotus 72.2
08 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 73.5
09 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 95.3
10 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1 Lap
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1 Lap
12 Sergio Perez Force India 1 Lap
13 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1 Lap
14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1 Lap
15 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1 Lap
16 Jenson Button McLaren 1 Lap
17 Felipe Massa Williams 2 Laps
18 Alexander Rossi Manor 2 Laps
19 Will Stevens Manor 3 Laps
20 Felipe Nasr Sauber 4 Laps

RZR and Big Boy had the best race, both with 17.5 points but RZR gets the yellow cap based on point types. I've spun out and probably won't recover this season, and the top 3 are now Lindosfan, Vital Spark and Big Boy.

1 - lindosfan 212.50
2 ▲2 Vital Spark 208.00
3 ▲3 BigBoy 207.00
4 ▼2 pharvey 206.00
5 ▲3 redzonerocker (Yellow Cap) 205.00
6 ▼3 Pete 204.50
7 ▼2 mwbrown 202.50
8 ▼1 bsdk1960 198.50
9 - Parahandy 198.00
10 - Terry 197.00
11 - JJBones 98.00
12 - Richard 58.00
13 - buksida 20.50

Next up is Russia on October 11. Good luck to all! Pete

http://planetf1.com/grand-prix/russia/circuit-guide/

Russian GP

Qualifying
Saturday 10 Oct 15:00 (local)
Saturday 10 Oct 19:00 (Thai time)

Race
Sunday 11 Oct 14:00 (local)
Sunday 11 Oct 18:00 (Thai time)

[Nereus]

The BBC has Nasr retiring on lap 49. I don't know if they're correct, or Planet F1 where I got the result list?

Yes, he retired. The TV commentary did not mention why, just a screen of him walking away from the pits.

Glad I did not pay money to go and watch it, the race a bit like watching paint dry.

[PeteC]

phpTGZYfbAM.jpg (79.84 KiB) Viewed 423 times

[Pleng]

Hamilton wins and has the fastest lap. Every car finished, no retirements, which is a 1st this season I think. NOTE: The BBC has Nasr retiring on lap 49. I don't know if they're correct, or Planet F1 where I got the result list?

Yes he retired in the last lap or two. I'm not entirely sure how it works but I think it's due to the fact that even through he retired, he'd still completed more laps that the guy who came in last (so for example Nasr drops out with one lap to go, but he'd already lapped Stevens twice, so he would be net +1 lap up). He is therefore classified, but in last place.

[Vital Spark]

Glad I did not pay money to go and watch it, the race a bit like watching paint dry.

Quite agree. I dozed off around lap forty something, and caught the last few laps. I thought the TV coverage on Sky was diabolical. They concentrated for a long time on a battle outside the points, while (apparently) Vettel was catching Rosberg. I do enjoy the post-race chit-chat (or not) between the drivers before they go to the podium. The Hamster was staring at the wall, not having eye contact with Vettel or Rosberg, and I mentioned to Mr.VS that perhaps they should chat in German - just to annoy him. Lo and behold, they were.

Blimey! I've managed somehow to crawl up to second place. Parahandy will start chatting to the microwave in German next...

VS

[Pleng]

The fans don't want Pijelly in the sport, and neither do the teams and drivers. Not that it will make a difference. Bernie will sign them to continue regardless.