The young drivers’ test starts at Abu Dhabi today. Keep an eye our for a guide to the drivers taking part on the site later.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Formula 1 2010 Abu Dhabi: Nico Rosberg “tortura” l’ingegnere che lascia (YouTube)
Nico Rosberg’s race engineer Jock Clear is doused in a worrying brown liquid, pelted with flour and eggs, and has a wig stuck to his head during Mercedes post-season revelries. And it looks like Rosberg was in on the action:
Was this how Jock Clear got his revenge on Rosberg?:
“Checked in Dubai. Receptionist was shocked when she saw passport. Someone stuck Britney in my passport. No idea who.
Police let me go after one hour in station. Missed out on party and had to call my dad to get my licence from my room. He was not amused. Now dubai cycling”
Red Bull: Title will make Vettel better (Autosport)
“Vettel had actually tried to help the team [in Hungary] by allowing Webber as much of a headstart as possible so the Australian’s tyre strategy would pay off – but slipped up by not remembering the mandatory distance he had to stay behind him. That earned Vettel a drive-through penalty – and gifted Webber a vital victory.”
Alonso wins DHL Fastest Lap Trophy (F1)
“The winner of the DHL Fastest Lap Award is Fernando Alonso, who recorded five fastest laps during the season. Lewis Hamilton matched that figure, but Alonso holds the highest number of second-fastest laps.”
Comment of the day
Dean tips Vitaly Petrov for best driver of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend:
When you can hold off a double-world champion hungry for a 3rd WDC for the better part of a complete race, that deserves some special credit, regardless of prior performance.
Dean
From the forum
It’s the end of the season and you know what that means – time to submit your views on the best and worst drivers of 2010:
Site updates
Those of you who follow F1 Fanatic using the RSS feed should now see the headlines for articles include the subtitles – such as “F1 Fanatic round-up” on this one, to make it easier to distinguish between articles. Thanks again to Richard Homer for tweaking the code.
And if you’ve not subscribed to the F1 Fanatic RSS, email or Twitter feeds yet, here’s why you should:
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Kimi Raikkonen was finally confirmed as the 2007 F1 champion on this day three years ago.
It took until 26 days after the season finale for the FIA court of appeal to put the result beyond all doubt after claims the Williams and BMW had used fuel that was cooled to a temperature below that allowed by the regulations.
Their disqualification could have promoted Lewis Hamilton higher up the finishing order, out-scoring Raikkonen in the process.
rfs
16th November 2010, 0:37
What the heck was Mercedes doing? Shouldn’t it be Red Bull engaging in drunken shenanigans?
PJ
16th November 2010, 0:43
Schumacher’s still alive! let’s celebrate!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
16th November 2010, 3:45
Where is Schumacher? Is he started to get prepared for 2011?
SoerenKaae
16th November 2010, 7:53
Trust me Red Bull’s guys were drunk. In Abu Dhabi a danish mechanic tol the danish coverage that he couldnt remeber how he got to the airport in Brazil, and that he was still missing a shoe. And that was just the WCC-celebration…
d-d
16th November 2010, 8:23
isn’t alcohol forbidden in Abu Dhabi or just commercials are forbidden?
Nik
16th November 2010, 13:02
Alcohol is unless you have a license. There are a few bars in the western hotels
not a place where you want to get wasted and carry on, although you can in Dubai :)
Dubai used to be like Abu Dhabi until they figured out that westerners with money like getting smashed. Abu Dhabi is still very very conservative (first time I went there 10 years ago it felt like Saudi Arabia)
Scribe (@scribe)
16th November 2010, 17:43
I still reckon they should let them spray chapagne on the podium though, the last podium of the season if the champ is there is great! He gets soaked, the Rosewater thingy was rubbish, an Button and Hamilton looked ready to really go for it, I know it’s ban but make an exception please!
TommyB (@tommyb89)
16th November 2010, 0:37
Congrats to Alonso on his DHL fastest lap trophy. That’s the one every driver dreams of really, that and the Castrol Rankings.
Scalextric
16th November 2010, 1:08
Ho ho! But why wasn’t this locked up by a Red Bull? Though they were dominant all season.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th November 2010, 1:10
Fastest laps are set late in the race. By that point the Red Bulls were usually either winning by miles and had backed off, or had retired.
Scalextric
16th November 2010, 3:43
Yes. Or had mechanical trouble and were told not to even think about going for it.
Bleu
16th November 2010, 8:15
Hamilton and Alonso had 5 each, Red Bull duo 3 each and the rest of them went to Button, Kubica and Petrov.
Oliver
16th November 2010, 16:41
True Keith, The RBulls usuall set their fastest laps half way into the race, then turn their engines off to coast home. The other cars are just racing to catch up hence their faster lap times.
Hare (@hare)
16th November 2010, 0:48
That is… incredibly funny!!! :D
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th November 2010, 1:34
The Rosberg passport thing reminds me of the Senna-Berger relationship. Like the time Berger replaced Senna’s passport photo with a picture of male anatomy. I seem to remember Senna reponding by supergluing Berger’s credit cards together.
Who says Formula 1 drivers don’t have a sense of humour?
KNF
16th November 2010, 3:34
Forget Red Bull and their hijack of the “Sex: Breakfast of Champions” legend, Mercedes is clearly the party team of the year.
As for whoever hid Rosberg’s driving licence and/or stuck the picture of Britney in his passport (who could tell the difference?), there are plenty of suspects, which may or may not include one former 7-time WDC…
Hamish
16th November 2010, 6:17
Thats like saying I may or may not have played a part in it…
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
16th November 2010, 7:57
I knew I saw the ‘Sex: Breakfast of Champions’ logo on Vettel’s overalls after the race…How long have they been running with that one?
Feynman
16th November 2010, 8:49
I believe it was modified to read ‘Red Bull, Breakfast of Champions’ … it was only for this race, James Hunt won the last race of the 77 season, winning the championship, and in doing so, it was the first time he had led the championship all year.
So Vettel did a Hunt.
Too early to start the Webber out, Kimi (aka James Hunt) in at Red Bull speculation?
The Rosberg passport-photo is magic.
Hamish
16th November 2010, 10:25
James Hunt won the 1976 championship.
Last race was at Fuji. Andretti 1st, James Hunt 3rd.
Oh what a sad life I lead….
Regis
16th November 2010, 2:30
That is just grose ! It looks like he was enjoying it…
Gridlock
16th November 2010, 3:02
I remember smiling when Vettel radioed in to find out the lap record, because he likes the stats, did a new one on his final lap only for Webber to go slightly better from 2nd.
Webber will be at RBR next year, he’s a pragmatist.
Scribe (@scribe)
16th November 2010, 17:45
An he’ll fill that cragy, experianced, perfect number two role they had in mind for him this yeah huh?
PeriSoft
16th November 2010, 5:54
It’s a good thing Max Mosley wasn’t there – he might’ve got the wrong idea.
Stephen Jones (@aus_steve)
16th November 2010, 8:12
any idea what the brown stuff is?
HounslowBusGarage
16th November 2010, 17:47
better not to ask . . .
Red Andy (@red-andy)
16th November 2010, 8:26
These pranks are just like the good old days of Senna and Berger. Didn’t one of them replace the other’s passport photo with a picture of a very specific piece of male anatomy at one point?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
16th November 2010, 8:42
I think the best part is he didn’t even realise for ages because Senna was usually just waved through!
infy (@infy)
16th November 2010, 8:33
What is “Sex – Breakfast of Champions”?
Maciek
16th November 2010, 8:50
Well it’s like the birds and the bees, or umm… just close your eyes and think of England.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th November 2010, 9:05
James Hunt used to wear a badge that said, “Sex – breakfast of champions”.
Feynman
16th November 2010, 9:21
photos …
http://www.ausmotive.com/2010/11/14/breakfast-of-champions.html
Although I always heard it as a t-shirt that Hunt wore, so don’t know if the badge is from much later.
DeadManWoking
16th November 2010, 19:04
To the victor goes the spoils:
http://theselvedgeyard.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/james-hunt-1976-f12.jpg
Buj
16th November 2010, 11:16
Where’s Jock going?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th November 2010, 11:31
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88322
Abu Dhabi advised to get better. I recommend this:
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8790/abudhabi.jpg
It’s not perfect, though. I’m not happy with the switchback. The first turn needs to be a little tighter, but the drivers should be able to accelerate through the second turn.
BasCB
16th November 2010, 12:30
I think they could use all the tarmac (just repaint where to drive) in that turn 7 and make a nice and flowing corner out of it instead of a chicane in front of the hairpin.
Nice article, though I find it a bit disappointing the track official confirms they are changing, but not really showing they want to do more than minor improvements.
Invoke
16th November 2010, 13:22
I like it PM, I thought I would have a go too so here is my fast layout:
Abu Dhabi Fast Layout.jpg
Fixy (@)
16th November 2010, 13:34
Wow, that loong turn could be nice. But probably it would be scrapped up in favour of a chicane.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
16th November 2010, 13:57
Pretty good, inspired me to update my suggestion from yesterday: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4159562
Sharp first corner, track mirrors your design (gmaps isn’t great for drawing!) but the hairpin would have to be pulled back a bit for safety restrictions, long straight into a very sharp left that immediately turns into a right (overtaking spot without the need for a chicane), long straight down to a hairpin, back to the marina section (space maximised to make the corners a little more open and less point-and-squirt) and then on to the end of the lap where you made the last corner a little more ov an overtaking spot.
djdaveyp
16th November 2010, 18:19
Like that, especially the “propper” hairpin at the end of the third straight, and the reprofile chicane at the end of the second one. Tightening the first corner is also a brilliant idea.
But I stick to my guns and blame the lack of overtaking on the rev limit/gear ratios.
Electrolite
16th November 2010, 23:21
That’s sort of what I was thinking, I really like what you’ve done with that. I think having the section where it goes under that big modern arty building towards the end is great, I like that section as it is. And whenever I watch the Abu Dhabi weekend it’s just agony seeing the chicane put in front of the chicane in sector 1.
Feynman
16th November 2010, 17:17
Unless they put that grandstand up on blocks, you are always struggling for run-off into that hairpin, hence the current chicane.
Here’s mine:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii14/defjam99b/yas.jpg
Apart from the blue bit, which is currently a service road, it all uses existing track, and in the correct direction. Apparently there is actually a usable bit of gradient in Yas, but it’s cleverly masked by the long gradual slope. When they run the short track, just before the blue bit, they call that section the corkscrew, so it could be worth running sideways down that hill, then back up again onto the main track.
The tight, slow, right-left-right sequence after the blue bit, look slightly more mechanical grip (street-track 90degrees), rather than aerogrip, might give someone half a chance of keeping just that bit closer, before they gently open out onto the straight.
I think that means we can now get away with dropping the chicane and now running straight into the hairpin, coming in hotter, and lengthening the braking zone/mistake opportunity just a fraction.
I dunno, it might even give teams some set-up problems, choose to optimise for the extra twists, or for the two long straights, that mix of setups might shake some overtaking opportunities loose.
djdaveyp
16th November 2010, 18:21
I really don’t see how adding more corners there can increase overtaking?
Feynman
16th November 2010, 19:27
Cars can’t follow through the current long turn 3, front-wing washing-out in the dirty air. Right now, the hard braking is into the chicane, where any error can be covered off in the left-right flick well before the hairpin, meaning cars can’t then get close enough to take advantage of the long straight. As we all clearly saw for 55 laps.
So you put the twists and turns in earlier, non-aero dependent corners with some gradient and off-camber too, before exiting a series of slowish (mechanical grip) corners then accelerating much further into a now harder braking-zone at the hairpin.
You should be closer than present, and both coming in faster and harder (as fast as we can possibly get with the run-off as it is) … the whole sequence, from corkscrew on, provides a better opportunity for a following car to force the issue, capitalise on any mistakes, and to take advantage.
Overtaking is supposed to be difficult, but the track should do its part in providing sufficient scope for driver-error. Throw the drivers off-balance and you can provoke an overtake opportunity.
Zayan
17th November 2010, 15:04
These ideas inspired my own
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1864/abudhabized.jpg
The set of fast corners before passing under the hotel can be set on a bridge, allowing for elevation change.
I think that widening the corners and adding enough camber or banking should allow the cars to overtake easier (think of Tarzanbocht at Zandvoort).
If we follow the straight-hairpin theme, we might think that Blanchimont screws up any overtaking into the busstop, or Eau Rouge screws up any overtaking on Kemmel. Fortunately, sculpting the corners properly can allow drivers to take more lines through it.
RobR (@robr)
16th November 2010, 16:21
The Rosberg thing is an instant classic.
Alexi (@)
16th November 2010, 17:28
Rosberg got owned right there.
dj
16th November 2010, 20:52
Well just watched the replay…Petrov sure short braked Alonso a lot …know wonder he was p.o.