2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

[PeterJB]

Practise 1 Results:

1 Jenson Button 4 McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.263
2 Mark Webber 2 Red Bull-Renault 1:40.389
3 Lewis Hamilton 3 McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.403
4 Sebastian Vettel 1 Red Bull-Renault 1:40.755
5 Fernando Alonso 5 Ferrari 1:40.801
6 Felipe Massa 6 Ferrari 1:41.260
7 Adrian Sutil 14 Force India-Mercedes 1:41.340
8 Nico Rosberg 8 Mercedes GP 1:42.130
9 Paul Di Resta 15 Force India-Mercedes 1:42.151
10 Jaime Alguersuari 19 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:42.377
11 Jean-Eric Vergne 18 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:42.633
12 Romain Grosjean 9 Renault 1:42.685
13 Vitaly Petrov 10 Renault 1:43.118
14 Pastor Maldonado 12 Williams-Cosworth 1:43.255
15 Michael Schumacher 7 Mercedes GP 1:43.389
16 Sergio Perez 17 Sauber 1:44.412
17 Kamui Kobayashi 16 Sauber 1:44.484
18 Heikki Kovalainen 20 Lotus-Renault 1:44.565
19 Jarno Trulli 21 Lotus-Renault 1:44.898
20 Vitantonio Liuzzi 23 HRT-Cosworth 1:46.385
21 Daniel Ricciardo 22 HRT-Cosworth 1:46.532
22 Timo Glock 24 Virgin-Cosworth 1:48.024
23 Robert Wickens 25 Virgin-Cosworth 1:48.551
24 Rubens Barrichello 11 Williams-Cosworth No Time

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Practise 1 Results:

1 Jenson Button 4 McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.263
2 Mark Webber 2 Red Bull-Renault 1:40.389
3 Lewis Hamilton 3 McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.403
4 Sebastian Vettel 1 Red Bull-Renault 1:40.755
5 Fernando Alonso 5 Ferrari 1:40.801
6 Felipe Massa 6 Ferrari 1:41.260
7 Adrian Sutil 14 Force India-Mercedes 1:41.340
8 Nico Rosberg 8 Mercedes GP 1:42.130
9 Paul Di Resta 15 Force India-Mercedes 1:42.151
10 Jaime Alguersuari 19 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:42.377
11 Jean-Eric Vergne 18 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:42.633
12 Romain Grosjean 9 Renault 1:42.685
13 Vitaly Petrov 10 Renault 1:43.118
14 Pastor Maldonado 12 Williams-Cosworth 1:43.255
15 Michael Schumacher 7 Mercedes GP 1:43.389
16 Sergio Perez 17 Sauber 1:44.412
17 Kamui Kobayashi 16 Sauber 1:44.484
18 Heikki Kovalainen 20 Lotus-Renault 1:44.565
19 Jarno Trulli 21 Lotus-Renault 1:44.898
20 Vitantonio Liuzzi 23 HRT-Cosworth 1:46.385
21 Daniel Ricciardo 22 HRT-Cosworth 1:46.532
22 Timo Glock 24 Virgin-Cosworth 1:48.024
23 Robert Wickens 25 Virgin-Cosworth 1:48.551
24 Rubens Barrichello 11 Williams-Cosworth No Time

Peter with the powers combined, Capt. Planet...

Oh crap wrong thing. Anyways I too hope HK can get at least 1 point for Caterham/Air Asia, you and I both know a random group of trumpet players will be on site to praise him when it happens.

 

[Alex.]

The Frenchmen did well.

 

[toyotsupra]

Romain looks strong great performance

 

[Hollidog]

More impressed by Vergne than Grosjean to be honest, only 3 tenths of and never driven the car at race pace? 👍.

Also, has anyone else noticed the Ferraris going off the track a lot today? Ive seen Alonso off at least 4 times and Massa off twice.

 

[Alex.]

Massa was busy being himself today. Wrecked a set of meds in practice.

 

[PeterJB]

Practise 2 Results:

1 Lewis Hamilton 3 McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.586
2 Jenson Button 4 McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.785
3 Fernando Alonso 5 Ferrari 1:39.971
4 Felipe Massa 6 Ferrari 1:39.980
5 Mark Webber 2 Red Bull-Renault 1:40.104
6 Sebastian Vettel 1 Red Bull-Renault 1:40.132
7 Michael Schumacher 7 Mercedes GP 1:40.553
8 Adrian Sutil 14 Force India-Mercedes 1:40.951
9 Paul Di Resta 15 Force India-Mercedes 1:41.021
10 Kamui Kobayashi 16 Sauber 1:41.490
11 Sergio Perez 17 Sauber 1:41.565
12 Sebastien Buemi 18 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:41.680
13 Vitaly Petrov 10 Renault 1:41.947
14 Jaime Alguersuari 19 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:41.983
15 Bruno Senna 9 Renault 1:42.369
16 Rubens Barrichello 11 Williams-Cosworth 1:42.798
17 Pastor Maldonado 12 Williams-Cosworth 1:42.910
18 Heikki Kovalainen 20 Lotus-Renault 1:43.562
19 Jarno Trulli 21 Lotus-Renault 1:44.050
20 Nico Rosberg 8 Mercedes GP 1:44.265
21 Timo Glock 24 Virgin-Cosworth 1:45.486
22 Jerome d'Ambrosio 25 Virgin-Cosworth 1:46.142
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi 23 HRT-Cosworth 1:46.249
24 Daniel Ricciardo 22 HRT-Cosworth 1:46.328

 

[YellowG1]

We've seen McLaren on top of FP1 and 2 before...

 

[toyotsupra]

Romain should get a race seat in the Renault next year alongside Petrov if Kubica can't race in my opinion

 

[Centura]

Wall of Champions: Part II.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

Fernando complementing Lewis:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/15701489.stm

Interesting stuff indeed, a swipe at Sebastian and Jenson I guess too... Some die-hard Alonso fans on other forums will not pleased with such statements .

 

[livemusic]

Cool onboard camera:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xm...1-formula-1-at-abu-dhabi-free-practice-2_auto

 

[toyotsupra]

Cool onboard camera:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xm9vpu_sebastian-vettel-onboard-2011-formula-1-at-abu-dhabi-free-practice-2_auto

Great view!

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I've always liked photos and videos where you can see the driver's eyes through their visor.

 

[Alex.]

He looks incredibly relaxed. I can't wait for that view at race start or quali.

 

[YellowG1]

Romain should get a race seat in the Renault next year alongside Petrov if Kubica can't race in my opinion

I like Kubica but I'm not sure we'll see him in F1 again.

Fernando complementing Lewis:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/15701489.stm

Interesting stuff indeed, a swipe at Sebastian and Jenson I guess too... Some die-hard Alonso fans on other forums will not pleased with such statements .

Wow. 👍 Still, I'd agree Alonso (and sometimes Lewis, and I'm a huge McLaren fan) is really the only person I've seen that can win without having a dominant car.

I also saw that Hamilton wanted to clear the air with Massa regarding their, what 5 incidents this year. Probably the smart and mature thing to do, even if a couple (particularly India) were just racing incidents. I thought having drivers on the stewards' panel might cut down on arbitrary penalties, and it did for a while, but there still seems to be an overriding need to find someone to penalize anytime two cars come together. I think the problem is that the stewards feel a need to play monday morning QB for decisions that drivers have to make in a split second. If the idea of a penalty is to prevent egregious driving errors, then they need to stop punishing 50-50 or 49-51 incidents like the one in India.

 

[Prince.M5]

Romain should get a race seat in the Renault next year alongside Petrov if Kubica can't race in my opinion

But then what'd happen to Bruno? He's currently putting some good if not impressive show so I think he also deserve a seat for next season.

Talking about Kubica, well... I am a huge fan of him and eventhough some say he will not return because in any way I understand he will need a lot of time to get used to his hand and build back the muscles to be fit. I have faith for him to come back next season but at the same time thinking it's already too late. If he's not driving next season, he will lose Renault and may well be under threat being seatless for 2013...

 

[Centura]

Is it just me or do Massa's driving style look very clumsy*?

* Eating a lot of kerbs, sawing the wheel, etc.

 

[Sohvakettu]

Sawing the wheel might be a sign that he isn't comfortable with the setup. Searching for the grip... I haven't seen the footage though.

 

[Prince.M5]

Eating a lot of kerbs

Now I'm thinking about Hamilton's drive last year. Driving side by side with Massa and clipping off all the 'poles' inside the apex in both Qualifying and Race by attacking the curbs like hell... Now I think it might go on the opposite way for both the drivers.

 

[Centura]

Now I'm thinking about Hamilton's drive last year. Driving side by side with Massa and clipping off all the 'poles' inside the apex in both Qualifying and Race by attacking the curbs like hell... Now I think it might go on the opposite way for both the drivers.

Funnily enough, most "poles" are missing now, but they were there when FP1 started.

McLaren look really strong here. Fastest in all three practice sessions, so I'm starting to think we might see Hamilton on pole today.

EDIT: Seriously, BBC? I like Paul di Resta, but I have had enough of him this year. You don't have to rave about him every single chance you get.

 

[NINE_HUNDRED]

He's the best new driver this season and he's British, what do you expect?

 

[niky]

RE: Massa... reports he wasn't comfortable with the new wing, so he's running the old one while Alonso is running the new one.

Supposedly.

Schumi is pretty far down in 17th... dangerous position to be near the end of Q1.

-----

Damnit! Red flag! And guess who knocks a pole down and causes it?

(Hint... it's not Lewis Hamilton...)

 

[Centura]

Uhm, yeah... Massa flying over the chicane with all four wheels off the ground.

 

[Famine]

Schumacher's just done a practice pit stop after Q2... and the team put inters on...

Also, how does Massa's Q2 lap count when he did an airborne corner cut? Edit: Di Resta too, but not airborne.

 

[niky]

Still no word from the stewards if they're going to give Massa a penalty for that. And here they said they were going to be monitoring such behaviour closely...

 

[crooky369]

Schumacher's just done a practice pit stop after Q2... and the team put inters on...

Also, how does Massa's Q2 lap count when he did an airborne corner cut? Edit: Di Resta too, but not airborne.

No point putting on tyres you're going to use, as you wheelspin and wear the tyres pulling away from the pitbox.

The track looks absolutely stunning at the moment though.

 

[Centura]

Game on!

I hope Vettel get pole, but I think Hamilton will.

Vettel on pole. Amazing lap.

Enginner: Good evening, Mansell!

 

[niky]

Every single car is back on track now... Hamilton to defend... Vettel to challenge... and everyone else doing Lord knows what. Button did the first lap on the harder compound... strategy? Wha?

Button's time is remarkably close to Hamilton's... Button might get pole... . . . . He does!

Now Hamilton does!

Now Webber... is nowhere close!

Now Vettel... DOES!!!!!! Wahoo!!! 14 poles! Yes! Yabba-dabba-doo! That's what I'm torking about!

 

[RTSolvalou]

Grow up vettel, immature kid.