Formula 1 2012: Round Five - Spanish Grand Prix

antomorro-sei

So, I don't see any thread for this around here and seeing as it starts in like three or four days, I just made a thread.

I haven't really been following the testing at Mugello last week but I gather from the other thread that both Ferrari and McLaren are making changes for the Spanish GP.

It's going to be my first GP, so I'm dead excited, even if the race at the Circuit de Catalunya isn't all that exciting. I think I say it every week but I'd love if Kimi or Schumi win here!

The weather looks to be grand for this weekend too, so I highly doubt there'll be any need for the wet tyres.

Here's the track:

antomorro-sei

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Nothing like a bit of live motor racing, make sure you get down nice and early each day and watch all the support races. Also make sure you bring plenty of water and suncream!

I got roasted at the last race I was at, in fact it was so hot that my mates mobile shut down after a warning about excessive temps :pac:

I'm looking forward to it alright. Saturday even looks decent as we can sit in the grandstand for the Qualifying and the GP2 and GP3 races!

Ever done one of them "Pit Lane Walks"? They have two of them on Thursday but not sure if I'm bothered going all the way there just to walk up and down a pit lane...

frostie500

antomorro-sei wrote: »

I'm looking forward to it alright. Saturday even looks decent as we can sit in the grandstand for the Qualifying and the GP2 and GP3 races!

Ever done one of them "Pit Lane Walks"? They have two of them on Thursday but not sure if I'm bothered going all the way there just to walk up and down a pit lane...

I was over in Barcelona last year and it's a really good race to go to. The pitwalk on the Thursday is a must do. I'll be over from the Friday onwards as well this year, cant wait!

Jordan 199

antomorro-sei wrote: »

I haven't really been following the testing at Mugello last week but I gather from the other thread that both Ferrari and McLaren are making changes for the Spanish GP.

Apart from Ferrari turning up with new sidepods and exhausts and McLaren trying a new front wing, there was nothing really to report from the Mugello test.

The four teams that will have updates to their cars for the Spanish GP so far will be Ferrari, McLaren, Sauber & Lotus.

Will be interesting to see if the Ferrari can provide Alonso with a car that can get him a trip to the podium, and if McLaren can sort out the tyre and pitstops problems they had in Bahrain.

jossul1179

I really hope Ferrari can make some improvements for Spain. I don't like seeing them so far off the pace. Alonso might be one of the top 3 drivers in the world, but without a competitive he not going to win the world championship.

endplate

I was in Barcelona in 2004 it was still a little cold when you are sitting in the stand for a long time. Definitely recommend the pit walk. I missed it in Spain as I was confused by the train network. Got to do the grid walk in Canada the following year. You will realise that any GP you go to required a lot of walking. Going from the train in Montmelmo to the track is about a 40 minute walk.

Where are you sitting? I sat above turn 1 so I didn't have the deafening drone of the engines at full throttle and I could watch the race without earplugs. And I could watch the cars exiting the pits too.

antomorro-sei

endplate wrote: »

I was in Barcelona in 2004 it was still a little cold when you are sitting in the stand for a long time. Definitely recommend the pit walk. I missed it in Spain as I was confused by the train network. Got to do the grid walk in Canada the following year. You will realise that any GP you go to required a lot of walking. Going from the train in Montmelmo to the track is about a 40 minute walk.

Where are you sitting? I sat above turn 1 so I didn't have the deafening drone of the engines at full throttle and I could watch the race without earplugs. And I could watch the cars exiting the pits too.

I just have a General Admission ticket so I'll be standing for the race. But, I think on the Friday and Saturday I can sit in any stand even with the Gen Admission ticket! I've been to the track already for the Test Days, in which there was a Pit Lane walk too. And yeah, its a decent aul walk from Montmeló Town Centre alright!

antomorro-sei

This has nowt to do with F1 but anyway...

If any of yiz are coming over for the weekend and staying in Barcelona city itself and not Montmeló well then there's a free festival on in the city centre at the MareMagnum. It's just at the end of La Rambla and closest Metro Station is Drassanes. There's free concerts and other random things and a lot of it is on at the evening/night time so it probably doesn't clash with the Formula 1.

Here's the link, http://www.maremagnum.es/laplazaodissea2012

I don't know any of the bands other than Maxïmo Park but like, as its free and I live close, I'll check the festival out.

As I said, nowt to do with the F1, but I said I'd post the link and info here in case any of yiz are into any of that music or whatever.

frostie500

The opening four races of the 2012 season have seen four different winners from four different teams and showed just how competitive Formula 1 has become in recent years.

The Pirelli tyres have played a crucial role in developing this level of competition throughout the last yea but while some within the paddock, notably Michael Schumacher, have been critical of the role of the Italian rubber in races fans are genuinely excited about each race weekend.

Last year in Spain Sebastian Vettel held off Lewis Hamilton in a thrilling battle for the win. Vettel’s ability to make overtaking moves on his outlaps gave him a key edge and put him in position to win the race.

With tyre wear playing a key role in last year’s race it seems almost certain that tyre degradation and management will be a major factor in deciding the outcome of this weekend’s race.

Circuit de Catalunya

Having hosted Formula 1 since 1991 the Circuit de Catalunya has been a stable on the Formula 1 calendar for over two decades. The financial crisis however has struck Spain exceptionally hard and it now seems that in future it will alternate with Valencia as host of the Spanish Grand Prix.

With Barcelona also a very popular winter testing venue for the teams there is little that they do not know about the track. This was a point that Sebastian Vettel was keen to stress as he talked about the challenges of this weekend:

"Of all the current GP tracks, Barcelona is the one that we know the most because we have done so much testing there in recent years,” commented the reigning World Champion. “That said, the knowledge that you gain at the tests doesn't always help due to the changing wind direction that occurs there, which can sometimes give you a nasty surprise, especially into Turn 1.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79rN4UxAPes

Can Lotus make it five different winners?

Following a double podium in Bahrain and topping the timesheets at the Mugello test the Lotus team are now under pressure to challenge for race wins.

The Enstone based squad has been very consistent thus far in 2012 and with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean driving at a very high level it is clear that there is the potential for the former Renault team to spring a surprise.
The team will bring a host of upgrades to Spain in the hope of capitalising on their new found status as a potential race winner.

The strength of Lotus has been their tyre management but, as China showed, they are still lacking tactically. At Shanghai Raikkonen was in line for a potential podium finish but a refusal to pit left him trailing in the midfield.

With the Pirelli rubber making races such a lottery it is crucial that teams are adaptable and can think on their feet. If Lotus have the confidence to adjust their strategy “on the fly” they could be very well placed to finish on the podium once again and challenge for the victory.

Ferrari looking to bounce back

The opening quartet of races have been miserable for Ferrari. Even with Fernando Alonso winning in Malaysia the team has been off the pace throughout and challenging for the title seems all but impossible.

The Scudderia will bring a major upgrade to Barcelona and will pin their title hopes on the new parts. Fernando Alonso knows the importance of the upgrades and the Spaniard is hoping for a strong showing at his home Grand Prix:

“In Montmelo, we will be counting on making a step forward,” said the double world champion. “We won't know until Saturday if we have and if so, how big a step it is. We have updates on the F2012, some of which we tested in Mugello last week and others which we will try out on Friday in free practice. Clearly, having limited the damage in the first four races this year, we must turn things around.”

The team has been racing with one hand tied behind it’s back for much of the last year with Felipe Massa floundering alongside Alonso. The Brazilian showed some signs of progress in Bahrain but Barcelona will be an acid test for him. If he can show good speed in qualifying and the race the unrelenting pressure of the last 18 months might let up on Massa and he will be able to relax.

The struggles of Felipe have not been easy to watch but until he starts to show that he can challenge Alonso there is already an air of inevitability that he is simply closing out his time as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver.

McLaren bring upgrades

Having seen their early season speed advantage eroded McLaren will bring a host of upgrades to Barcelona. The most obvious of these is a new front wing which sees the Woking based squad fall more into line with the stepped nose of the rest of the field.

The Mercedes engined MP4-27 has started on the front row of the grid each race but with only Jenson Button’s season opening Australian GP victory it is clear that they haven’t been able to take advantage of their potential performance.

Barcelona has always been seen as an acid test of a car with, generally, the most aerodynamic car making its way to the front of the field. The McLaren is a very stable car that has shown clear flashes of its speed, now it needs to get back to the front and win races again.

The most interesting part of McLaren’s decision to introduce the new wing is that with both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button having sat out the Mugello test neither driver has used the new front wing.

Challenges facing engineers at Barcelona

Even though the teams know the Barcelona track intimately from endless laps during winter testing it still provides a challenge for the engineers to find the right setup.

Sauber’s Giampaolo Dall’Ara, the team’s head of track engineering, spoke about the contrasts of Barcelona.

“It has all kinds of features - low speed, medium speed and high speed corners as well as changes of direction,” said the Italian. “In some places the circuit is quite bumpy, and the tarmac is abrasive. Although we know this track well from testing it's always a challenging one.”

McLaren’s team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, stressed how difficult it is to find the perfect setup at Barcelona.

"I think the drivers and the engineers enjoy the tricky technical challenge of Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya,” said the Englishman. “You really operate your set-up on fine limits around here: every team's balance is so refined that even the slightest imperfections become highlighted. Get it right and you tend to have a serene afternoon, get it wrong and you'll be hitting trouble, and traffic, throughout the race.

Formula 1 revolves around Pirelli tyres

Formula 1 has been dominated by Pirelli tyres over the course of the last year with last year’s Barcelona race was one of the most exciting since the introduction of the Italian rubber.

Barcelona is one of the toughest tracks of the season on tyres with the never ending turn three placing a tremendous load on the left hand tyres. The Pirelli rubber makes its grip using mechanical rather than chemical means-in effect it is now the tyre interacts with the track surface rather than a molecular level within in the compounds-and this means that an abrasive track surface, such as Barcelona will always provide an exceptionally tough race for these tyres.

During last year’s race the softer compound saw degradation of approximately one tenth of a second per lap. With the harder rubber also available this weekend, and an expected performance difference of over 0.5s per lap, it will be crucial to be able to stay on the option tyres for as long as possible.
Pirelli’s motorspot czar, Paul Hembery, knows that this race will be the toughest test of his companies rubber for much of the season.

"The Spanish Grand Prix weekend should present something of a contrast to the last pre-season test in Barcelona, where low ambient temperatures meant that it was difficult to get heat into the tyres!” said the Englishman. “This time we're expecting warmer weather, which only adds to the many challenges that the tyres will face here. We've nominated the soft and hard tyre in order to highlight performance differences that will create a different challenge for the teams, showcasing both the speed and durability of our products.

“There is a whole step in between our two nominations for the first time this year and this should allow the teams to come up with a number of different tyre strategies that could make a big difference to the final outcome. With many teams having expanded their knowledge of our tyre range and tested new components at Mugello, we're expecting a closely-fought Spanish Grand Prix - and maybe even the fifth different winner in five races..."

Potential for rain this weekend

While sunshine and warm weather is the expected norm in Barcelona at this time of year there is a potential for rain on Sunday. The weekend is expected to start with a cloudy Friday before clearing on Friday but Sunday will see a 60% chance of rain affecting the 66 lap race.

Cookie_Monster

frostie500 wrote: »

Having seen their early season speed advantage eroded McLaren will bring a host of upgrades to Barcelona. The most obvious of these is a new front wing which sees the Woking based squad fall more into line with the stepped nose of the rest of the field.

any photos of that?

frostie500

This is taken from the F1 Cars thread:


It's not as bad as the others on the grid but still pretty different to their original nose

lolie

Highlights of the 1991 and 1996 races on the bbc red button.
The sound of the ferrari v12 was something else.

Scotty #

Posted by @MercedesAMGF1 on Twitter yesterday...

Says DRS can be used for 44% of lap... that can't be correct can it??

Mitch Connor

Scotty # wrote: »

Posted by @MercedesAMGF1 on Twitter yesterday...

Says DRS can be used for 44% of lap... that can't be correct can it??

I would assume that is for the qualifying - where they can use DRS as much as they want - would be restricted much more in the race.

Scotty #

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I would assume that is for the qualifying - where they can use DRS as much as they want - would be restricted much more in the race.

DOH!! It even says it under the stat. I'm blind!

recyclebin

Alonso fastest after practice 1. Could Ferrari have found some speed? Probably too early to say.

From the on-board shot it seems McLaren drew inspiration for the nose from Owen Wilson.

antomorro-sei

Have to say, really regret not putting on suncream earlier.

-gilly-09-

Lewis touting up JB to take pole today. Have to say lewis looks the most likely for me at the moment. Can't wait for this GP.

Unbelievable difference between the two Williams.

Cookie_Monster

whole lotta softs burnt up in q1

PS oh dear Senna

I take it back, Maldonado's car looks like **** too, amazing to get any laptime out of that.

Ghost Train

Maldonado fastest? Button out?

Odd results for Q2

Anyone

Haha fantastic Q2 there, Webber and Button out. Was hilarious seeing the cars come in one by one, and pushing some of the bigger names down.

This season has been amazing overall.

dor83

Great quali so far, hopefully Maldonado can keep it up in Q3.

Ferrari have to get rid of Massa soon, he's just not good enough any more.

I'll never understand the people who work on F1 strategy. Was a waste of time Button burning all those tyres with his poor pace and Webber was sat in the pits. Weather may have changed but the track evolution was always going to be massive.

Cookie_Monster

exciting lap from Vettel there:rolleyes:

Ghost Train

Will be strange if they some topteams don't go for grid slot in Q3 to save tyres

ankles

With the tyres as they are this season, I've been wondering in the last couple of races why teams bother once they get to final qualifying. Grid position just isn't worth hanging on to the tyres for Sunday. Unless its Monaco or something just take a top 10 and hang onto the tyres.

Ghost Train

might be exciting last minute or two?

ankles

If lesser teams see chance of a pole. That's all

Anyone

Ghost Train wrote: »

might be exciting last minute or two?

Haha, it was!!

Ghost Train

Wonder where Williams have found the time?

And the reason for Hamiltons stopping?

Hope the race is going to be good now

cherryghost

Ghost Train wrote: »

Wonder where Williams have found the time?

They had it all weekend. Good quali. Disappointing to see Vettel do nothing.

brownacid

Is Karthekeyan out of the race for tomorrow, he is well outside the 107% point, no mention of it on the bbeb

Cool_CM

brownacid wrote: »

Is Karthekeyan out of the race for tomorrow, he is well outside the 107% point, no mention of it on the bbeb

He can petition the stewards and see if they let him

Mickey H

To 10 looking like this:

Pos. Driver Team Time
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:21.707
2. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:22.285
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:22.302
4. Romain Grosjean Lotus 01:22.424
5. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 01:22.487
6. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:22.533
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:23.005
8. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull no time
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes no time
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber no time

Great showing from the Lotus pair yet again and Mr. Maldonado. Season worst position for Massa and Ferrari in 17th.

Unusual to see Vettel with "no time". Can he still save a set of tyres for the race?

Also, what will happen with Narain Karthikeyan? Will the stewards allow him race?

With tyre degredation and the current season's unpredictability, I think this could be anyone's race. I wouldn't even rule out a surprise from Button or Webber, despite starting 11th & 12th respectively.

My own prediction:

Winner: Hamilton.
Podium: 1st. Hamilton, 2nd. Raikkonen, 3rd. Alonso.
Vettel 4th.
Mercedes: 5th & 6th.

Too many variables to bother with the rest.

Coverage from 1210 to 1515 on BBC One tomorrow.
Spanish Grand Prix highlights 1900-2000 on BBC Three

Enjoy!

Glico Man

Hammy might be in a bit of trouble. His car didn't make it back to the pits after Q3 under its own power.

Jordan 199

brownacid wrote: »

Is Karthekeyan out of the race for tomorrow, he is well outside the 107% point, no mention of it on the bbeb

He'll be allowed to race tomorrow.

aaronh007 wrote: »

Hammy might be in a bit of trouble. His car didn't make it back to the pits after Q3 under its own power.

If it's an engine or gearbox problem, then yes.

brownacid

Jordan 191 wrote: »

He'll be allowed to race tomorrow.



If it's an engine or gearbox problem, then yes.

Absolute joke, at this stage he is a danger to the rest of the grid, He was just shy of 10s slower than Hammo's pole time. It's slower than the top 5 GP2 qualifying times from yesterday. They really need to get rid of him, I know its a terrible car, but he is a terrible driver.

Alonso will win it tomorrow. I doubt Hamilton will convert the pole, the dark horse is Maldonado, would absolutely love to see Williams win again, would have prefered it to be Senna up there but Pastor will suffice.

Itssoeasy

According to ted kravitz hamiltons car had 1.3L in its tank, you need 1L for the FIA test and 2L for the out lap. McClaren are going to claim "Force majeure" as the reason why he stopped.

ottostreet

I get the feeling McLaren may have screwed up again, Hamilton grid penalty?

Quote:
The chatter about Lewis losing pole seems to be increasing, but nothing confirmed yet...watch this space..


Jake Humphrey

Quote:
Lewis' pole currently under discussion by stewards. May yet be stripped if found not to have enough fuel in the car. McLaren say there was.


Ian Parkes (Press Association F1 correspondent)

Quote:
#F1 Lewis Hamilton's pole looking increasingly under threat due to his failure to get his car back to parc ferme


Adam Cooper

Grim.

hamy to start last

ottostreet

Confirmed: Hamilton stripped of pole. Will start from the back.

Maldonado on pole, Alonso 2nd, Lotus 2nd row.

I'd imagine the rather draconian penalty is because McLaren did the same with Hamilton at Canada 2010, for which he received a reprimand.

Monumental cock up from McLaren.

Knew I should've got on Kimi! Proper amateur hour stuff from McLaren.

youreadthis

Breaking: McLaren to be re-branded "Team Suicidal".

TheChrisD

I hope these stewards will take the same viewpoint and give the same punishment for any cars stopping on track after the race tomorrow, like what Seb did in Bahrain.

Ghost Train

I guess fair enough. There was a rule change after Hamilton ran out of fuel in Canada a year or two ago, so they should know better. Might make the race more interesting

ottostreet

TheChrisD wrote: »

I hope these stewards will take the same viewpoint and give the same punishment for any cars stopping on track after the race tomorrow, like what Seb did in Bahrain.

I think it's only if there is reasonable doubt to make it deliberate. McLaren seem to have tried to pull the wools over the stewards eyes with this one.

smellslikeshoes

TheChrisD wrote: »

I hope these stewards will take the same viewpoint and give the same punishment for any cars stopping on track after the race tomorrow, like what Seb did in Bahrain.

Different kettle of fish not making it back after a full race distance.

Jordan 199

brownacid wrote: »

Absolute joke, at this stage he is a danger to the rest of the grid, He was just shy of 10s slower than Hammo's pole time. It's slower than the top 5 GP2 qualifying times from yesterday. They really need to get rid of him, I know its a terrible car, but he is a terrible driver.

They only real reason they let him race tomorrow is because he's driving for a Spanish team.

Alonso will win it tomorrow.

I agree.