I loved the track, it was amazing to watch first F1 on sunset, than in twilight and in the end in the dark. Terrific, can't wait for the race!
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I loved the track, it was amazing to watch first F1 on sunset, than in twilight and in the end in the dark. Terrific, can't wait for the race!
something tells me Macca are gonna do well this weekend-the stop starty nature suits them to a tee.
Lewis for a win, Button for second with no pressure, Kimi or Vettel for third.
I said Macca will do well, I mean Lewis will do well, and Heikki most probably considerably average.
hopefully, a good race is in store.
free beer is a worthy trade off :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
Brawn were fantastic in FP3, but maybe McLaren will be lighter now and Lewis will win Pole.
Lewis creams the field
great driving by Lewis. surprise of the day were the red bulls for me, i thought they were gonna struggle to get higher than about 4th but 2nd and 3rd good for them (could be just low fuel-we will find that out eventually)
looking foward to hopefully a good race tommorrow
great qualy, still waiting to hear what happened to kovy,
i think Raikkonen is sticking it to Ferrari TBH in front of that mega Ferrari World center thing. Alonso on the other hand has already checked out.
RBR's look good, albeit .500 seconds off Mclaren's pace. This is a great Kers track, no doubt, but remember that the car is still like 60pounds heavier.
not sure what to make of trulli's pace and the enigma of Toyota. As I've said all along, the weakest part of Toyota has always been their drivers. I've always believed that with better drivers they would have won some races and been close in the championships. If they spent some money on drivers instead of their huge redundant staff, who knows how 2009 might have turned out.
Brawns look solid, Rubens once again gets the better of his teammate.
Race should be good tomorrow, although I predict a first corner incident.
BTW, i think the pit exit is fantastic, no problems or complains all weekend from the drivers.
It really is going to take something special for anyone to beat Lewis Hamilton tomorrow. I think it will be an interesting fight between the Red Bulls and Brawns for second place, Barrichello will need Button between himself and Vettel to secure second place in the World Championship.
Great looking circuit. That huge, bulbous hotel building reminds of the Bullring in Birmingham.
Looks like a great facility, track layout isn't up to much but I didn't expect it to be.
Hamilton will walk away with this tomorrow, reckon Button might just get onto the podium. Kovalainen should've been on the front row too but his gearbox failed and he gets a five-place penalty.. not a great way to start your last McLaren race :s
Weights are in: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/10/3...-fuel-weights/
Vettel has 2 laps more than Hamilton but I doubt that'll be enough.
1 Lewis Hamilton 658.5kg 18 laps
2 Sebastian Vettel 663 20
3 Mark Webber 660 19
4 Rubens Barrichello 655 17
5 Jenson Button 657 18
6 Jarno Trulli 661 19
7 Robert Kubica 654.5 17
8 Nick Heidfeld 664 20
9 Nico Rosberg 665 21
10 Sebastien Buemi 661.5 19
11 Kimi Raikkonn 692 31
12 Kamui Kobayashi 694.3 32
13 Heikki Kovalainen 697 33
14 Kazuki Nakajima 704 35
15 Jaime Alguersuari 696.5 32
16 Fernando Alonso 708.3 37
17 Vitantonio Liuzzi 695 32
18 Adrian Sutil 696 91
19 Romain Grosjean 710.8 38
20 Giancarlo Fisichella 692.5 31
So long as Lewis gets a good start, KERS should see him stay in front of the Red Bulls.
Both Renaults fueled LONG !
Yes but starting from 16th and 19th the only way they could get a good result is if there's a safety.... oh, wait. :dozey:Quote:
Originally Posted by driveace
Lewis should win this. Between RBR and Brawn GP, maybe the weather will be decisive. Brawnies will have to beat RBR while it is hot, because in the eve the Bulls will be likely stonger.Quote:
Originally Posted by christophulus
Those are the heaviest starting weights I can remember seeing all year... collecting data for next year perhaps :)Quote:
Originally Posted by driveace
My pickems posted days ago: Hamilton, Webber, Vettel and bunsen - and barring accidents to any of them, I predict that the podium will be fought out between these four drivers. Kimi is an unknown quantity because he is fueled up to run a totally different race strategy from the other three. The race will start at midnight our time, so I will be fast asleep then.
I can't get over the size of that yacht tied up outside of the main harbor that is a backdrop for the shots looking down one of the short straights. It looks like a darn building there, not a yacht.!
I haven't seen many cars running close at all in practice or quallys so far. So far I like the track much better than say Bahrain or China.
Guys, just a fast report on being out on the track. It’s all amazing. When the first Bahrain F1 took place I already worked here so we went there to watch. It was half ready and not many people or spectators. Her the whole thing looks awesome. When you come over to Yas island it’s like a vacation from the city, Abu Dhabi. It’s not 100% done, but it’s much more advanced then Bahrain truck. We are sitting above the support pit, so we’ve got the hotel and the yachts in front of us. The short straight and until they go into the hotel tunnel.
One thing I don’t like is that the seats are numbered, so some friends bought the ticket later and they have different seat numbers. And it’s quiet hard to get around the organizers, they are so many and work like robots. They have been told something and that’s it.
Ok, then I’ll get on my old BAR Honda shirt and head out. If I got some good pictures I will post them.
Oh and the crowd. The place is full to my surprise!
Yas Marina humiliates Sakhir. The Bahrain GP looks like a GP in the middle of nowhere. This looks like a GP from the future. I envy you for being there. Enjoy the race!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyo
Hehe... My Dad and I were walking past the Bullring yesterday and speculated that if Silverstone fell through, Birmingham could step up to the plate for a street race due to the similarities between the two buildings :)Quote:
Originally Posted by VkmSpouge
For those who don't know what we're on about:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/...9eaab4b078.jpg
This is the outside of the Selfridges store at the Bullring shopping mall in Birmingham. Depending on how you feel, it's either architectural genius or an eyesore.
Can't see anyone stopping Hamilton today.
Just watching GP2 Asia to get an idea of what actual racing might look like. :)
Lewis will easily win this one !
Crap. Just got a callout from work, I won't be seeing this race tonight :(
Lewis will win.
Tonight ? the race will start at 1400 cet ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Koz
Midnight my time :( :bigcry:Quote:
Originally Posted by pino
Nice building (a long way from being genius) in totally the wrong location. It needs to be sympathetic to its surroundings, and that's where the Yas Marina hotel scores as it fits in well with the whole design ethos. The real eyesore in Abu Dhabi is the Ferrari World building, but the insides more than make up for that. 220kph roller coaster, anyone? :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Aikidoka
Yes bring back the Super Prix!Quote:
Originally Posted by Aikidoka
Jonathon Legard's commentary, so far, has been awful.
The race has been even worse. Please, please, please do something about the aerodynamics for next year!
Great race to the finish between Webber & Button :up: :up:
It was totally thrilling :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
Great work by both men.
Anyone notice there's no drainage system in the tunnel?! Good job its in the middle of the desert!
What's the protocol when pit exit is flooded?
Yup, those five laps were amazing. Shame the other 90% of the race was dull as ditchwater.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
Stunning setting, absolutely stunning. But give me Spa, Silverstone, Suzuka or Interlagos any day.
lower the lifeboats?Quote:
Originally Posted by wedge
Fantastic setting and well done Vettel today, good racing between Button and Webber at the end. shame for Lewis but he didnt look like winning anyway (unless he had a problem from the very start)
but now, is it really all over for another year?
Good race. Shame for Lewis Hamilton to have a car problem curtail his race. Sebastian Vettel did a great utterly flawless and deserves second the championship.
Great battle with Mark Webber and Jenson Button towards the end. I think one more lap and Button would have got passed the Red Bull but it was some very good defending by Webber. It was nice to see Button going for it, after all he had already won the championship, he could have just sat back and accepted third.
Nick Heidfeld, Kaumi Kobayashi and Sebastien Buemi all having good races. Kobayashi impressing again beating his far more experienced team mate, I hope Toyota give him a drive next year.
After the exciting practice and qualy and the thrilling GP2 races, the race was a bit anticlimatic for me.
It's a shame that the season ended on a low. Brazil was a good race and should've been the climax really. It's not the track that is at fault though, we've seen semi-processional races all year.
With no refuelling next year the races could get even worse, something needs to be done a.s.a.p to liven it up. Otherwise any new UK viewers gained from a second successive British champion are going to switch off.
Decent race. Bummer to see Lewis' car break - still got Kimi for 5th though (and McLaren gets Ferrari for 3rd :p ).
But what realy amazed me about this race was that flat out gorgeous circuit! Man, that place is beautiful. I wasn't a fan of Bernie's Middle East strategy at first. But this race by itself makes me have second thoughts on that. I hope this race stays around for a LONG time!
IMO Abu Dhabi and Singapore are cool, Bahrain so so.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Only saw part of the race but the last few laps were exciting. Seemed a lot better than the other new tracks but I did keep thinking it looked like Selfridges too.