United States Grand Prix 2012, Austin - Race 19/20

englishpremier said:
You maths isn't the best then.

Vettel is 10 points ahead of Alonso. So Alonso only needs to score more than 10 points more than Vettel to win the WDC.

Nobody needs to win.
Click to expand...

I assume he means, if Alonso wins both, Vettel can get 2nd and still wouldn't win the title because of the gap between 1st/2nd being the largest points wise. If Alonso won both, Vettel couldn't win no matter what, if Alonso gets say 2 second places, Vettel can win the title without winning either race(probably). The only way to be absolutely sure, is to win both.


Anyway, phenomenal lap by hamilton, clearly the car isn't as good, but its not that far off. I think Hamilton was somewhat sandbagging and practice wasn't as good an indicator. Remember that in P1 Hamilton was out for ages before doing the fastest lap, Vettel hadn't been out for long and had fresher tyres when he did that fast lap. Hamilton then pitted, came out clearly to try a quick lap but missed getting round in time(or realised one lap warm up wasn't enough) and pitted at the end of the session.

Vettel was faster, but Hamilton could likely have closed that gap significantly on fresher tyres. p2 I think Mclaren were focusing more on long run pace and looked decent, then Hamilton was only 3tenths down in P3 which was more indicative of the real difference between the cars.

Massa though looks pretty good(considering the car) compared to Alonso. Of course, Massa is under less pressure and could also be running a "spoiler" setup, IE qualify higher, try and get a great start and potentially hold people up with Alonso in a car better set up for the race but would struggle in qualifying.
 
If Weber gets penalised, that will play nicely into Alonsos hands.
And I think on some subconscience level, Weber wants Alonso to win rather than Vettel.
The key tomorrow is Hamilton and Massa. If Vettel gets away cleanly, then the liklihood is, barring any car problems, Vettel can win this race comfortably.

Hamilton has nothing to lose in this race, he will be giving it his ALL just to prove a point to Mclaren before he leaves for Mercedes (not that he needs to anyway).

I usually hate Sunday nights cause I have to go to work the next day... but this will be fun Sunday night :)
 
So if my maths is correct, if Vettel wins Alonso needs to come 4th or better to stay in it? 5th would put him 25 points behind with 25 available but that won't be enough because if they are equal on points Vettel has more wins.
 
About Webber

26.2 In the event of any breach of these provisions for the weighing of cars the stewards may drop the driver such number of grid positions as they consider appropriate or exclude him from the race.
Click to expand...
 
Skeeter said:
So if my maths is correct, if Vettel wins Alonso needs to come 4th or better to stay in it? 5th would put him 25 points behind with 25 available but that won't be enough because if they are equal on points Vettel has more wins.
Click to expand...

I saw this elsewhere....

Drivers’ championship

If Vettel leaves this weekend 25* points or more in front of Alonso, he will be champion. Here’s how that can happen:

* If Vettel wins the race and Alonso finishes fifth or lower, Vettel is champion
* If Vettel finishes second and Alonso finishes ninth or lower, Vettel is champion
* If Vettel finishes third and Alonso finishes eleventh or lower (i.e., fails to score), Vettel is champion
* Any other combination of results will mean the championship will be decided in the next race

However the situation can turn around quite easily. If Alonso wins the race, the only way Vettel can go into the final round ahead on points is by finishing second.

*If the pair end the season tied on points, Vettel will be champion as he will have won the most races.


Constructors’ championship

The only way Red Bull can fail to win the constructors’ championship this weekend is if they have a disastrous race.

The only team that can still beat them to the title is Ferrari, and they need to get both drivers on the podium with one of them winning to stay in the hunt.

* If Ferrari finish one-two, Red Bull must score at least four points to win the title, for which they will need at minimum one car finishing eighth or higher
* If Ferrari finish one-three, Red Bull must score at least one point to win the title, for which they will need at minimum one car finishing tenth or higher
* Any other combination of results will make Red Bull the champions

If the two teams end the season tied on points, Red Bull will be champions as they will have won the most races.
 
Can't say much else though, can he? Don't think him saying

"**** it. I can't beat him. Oh well, off to get a steak!"

would go down too well!
 
Last edited:
While trying to ignore Eddie Jordan's nauseating "America's amazing guff", the most entertaining thing I saw during that whole qualifying show was Emerson Fittipaldi's nose.

Will it ever stop growing!? :eek: Maybe Adrian Newey will try and stick some wings on it and mount him on the front of the Red Bull?
 
I have to say, the american thing of tailgating looks really damn fun. If I wasn't mistaken there is also a line of tailgaters with their fancy RV's down one of the straights. So basically pull up with a private toilet, comfy ride, power, set up a BBQ, and drink/eat yourself through the day with the race going on like 10 metres away? Awesome :)
 
At this point I'm just hoping it goes down to the final race, it's always annoying watching the rest of the season once the WDC has been crowned.

That said, it's set up perfect for Alonso to make up places.. Hamilton on the dirty side, Webber slow off the start and generally the fast starting pace of the Ferrari should see him make 2 or 3 places.

If he's still beyond 5 or 6th after lap 5, it's going to cripple his confidence.
 
drunkenmaster said:
I have to say, the american thing of tailgating looks really damn fun. If I wasn't mistaken there is also a line of tailgaters with their fancy RV's down one of the straights. So basically pull up with a private toilet, comfy ride, power, set up a BBQ, and drink/eat yourself through the day with the race going on like 10 metres away? Awesome :)
Click to expand...

Yep, all down the DRS straight. Looks like an ace way to do it.
 
EVH said:
At this point I'm just hoping it goes down to the final race, it's always annoying watching the rest of the season once the WDC has been crowned.

That said, it's set up perfect for Alonso to make up places.. Hamilton on the dirty side, Webber slow off the start and generally the fast starting pace of the Ferrari should see him make 2 or 3 places.

If he's still beyond 5 or 6th after lap 5, it's going to cripple his confidence.
Click to expand...

Meh, not too fussed if it goes to the last race or not, if its finished with 1/3 of the season to go is when its bad. Last few races is okay by me.

I still think that Massa could have been faster today because they've given him a "get the hell up the grid and get out front and hold them up" mandate, rather than a setup that will do well for race pace throughout. At this stage, if they can sacrifice Massa's race to help Alonso they should.

From 8th, hmm, I honestly can't remember if the Merc's have started well this year or not, its been so long since they've started anywhere relevant. I think Massa/Alonso with their starts could quite easily be giving Webber a tough time come the first corner, and importantly the Ferrari seems to be amongst the best in race speed in the first few really heavy laps, slip streaming better than most without DRS. MAssa can't just let Alonso past on the grid though as he's got to basically get as high as he can, which means he may inadvertantly block Alonso a bit.

Schumi did particularly well, the last 5th was at Monza, and since then Merc have mostly been 9th-12th or so, so 6th and very close to 5th is a real step up for them. Would be nice to see Schumi have a good race before he retires again.

lol, what was the reason Merc gave for Rossberg going with the old exhaust system, was it Rossberg's choice, didn't like it, or team decided they wanted to test it for some reason? 1.4 seconds slower in Q2 and dead last, vs 6th in Q3..... that was quite a decision.
 
Please for the sake of all that is holy. Merc offer to buy Newey his own island or something to get him for 2014, imagine a current Newey car with a merc power plant in the hands of Lewis for a season. The way things are atm I can see Vettel winning 4 titles in a row.

Never mind though. On a different note any news on how F1 will sit on tv's next year? Will bbc show any live? Will sky keep it as a Hd channel or will they force sky sports on us and adverts?.
 
lol, what was the reason Merc gave for Rossberg going with the old exhaust system, was it Rossberg's choice, didn't like it, or team decided they wanted to test it for some reason? 1.4 seconds slower in Q2 and dead last, vs 6th in Q3..... that was quite a decision.
Click to expand...
He tested it in FP and decided to keep it on for the weekend.

He claims its testing for next year but I doubt it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom