2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Nov 2-4)

Vettel is closing on his third title:

[QUOTE=Practice 1]Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m43.285 20
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m43.618s + 0.333 18
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m44.050s + 0.765 21
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m44.366s + 1.081 20
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m44.542s + 1.257 21
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m44.694s + 1.409 21
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m45.194s + 1.909 19
8. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m45.347s + 2.062 24
9. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m45.347s + 2.062 23
10. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m45.422s + 2.137 15
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m45.567s + 2.282 23
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m45.587s + 2.302 18
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m45.722s + 2.437 19
14. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m45.743s + 2.458 19
15. Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1m45.769s + 2.484 21
16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m45.811s + 2.526 21
17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m46.649s + 3.364 22
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m46.708s + 3.423 24
19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m47.418s + 4.133 22
20. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m47.891s + 4.606 19
21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m48.354s + 5.069 21
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m48.887s + 5.602 21
23. Ma Qing Hua HRT-Cosworth 1m50.487s + 7.202 20
24. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault no time 3 [url="http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103929"]Abu Dhabi GP: Lewis Hamilton leads opening practice session - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com[/url][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Practice 2]Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m41.751 33
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m41.919s + 0.168 33
3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m42.412s + 0.661 35
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m42.466s + 0.715 21
5. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m42.500s + 0.749 33
6. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m42.532s + 0.781 27
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m42.587s + 0.836 30
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m42.823s + 1.072 32
9. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m42.998s + 1.247 36
10. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m43.106s + 1.355 35
11. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m43.191s + 1.440 33
12. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m43.200s + 1.449 35
13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m43.255s + 1.504 33
14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m43.267s + 1.516 31
15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m43.578s + 1.827 33
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m43.689s + 1.938 31
17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m44.260s + 2.509 26
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m45.073s + 3.322 18
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m45.245s + 3.494 35
20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m45.782s + 4.031 32
21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m46.589s + 4.838 34
22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m46.671s + 4.920 30
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m46.707s + 4.956 25
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m47.406s + 5.655 34

[url="http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103935"]Abu Dhabi GP: Vettel takes control in second Friday practice - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com[/url][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Practice 3]Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m42.130s 18
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m42.420s + 0.290s 17
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m42.614s + 0.484s 7
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m42.743s + 0.613s 18
5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m42.750s + 0.620s 19
6. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m43.015s + 0.885s 18
7. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m43.064s + 0.934s 19
8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m43.133s + 1.003s 15
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m43.184s + 1.054s 22
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m43.338s + 1.208s 19
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m43.480s + 1.350s 17
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m43.571s + 1.441s 20
13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m43.593s + 1.463s 20
14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m43.635s + 1.505s 19
15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m44.010s + 1.880s 22
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m44.025s + 1.895s 18
17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m44.071s + 1.941s 19
18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m44.149s + 2.019s 19
19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m45.301s + 3.171s 22
20. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m45.879s + 3.749s 19
21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m46.036s + 3.906s 19
22. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m46.261s + 4.131s 22
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m46.554s + 4.424s 20
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m47.032s + 4.902s 22

[url="http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103971"]Abu Dhabi GP: Lewis Hamilton on top as Sebastian Vettel hits trouble - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com[/url][/QUOTE]

Qualifying starts in less than two hours!

Doen't appear Ferrari can find their way in time, or at all.

Another Red Bull F'up.

Vettel to start from back of pack, out of pit lane.

Hurrrrraaaaaaaaaay! :)

[quote=faksta;990198]Hurrrrraaaaaaaaaay! :)[/quote]

I liked his interview with DC afterwards.

Nice to see him back on the top step of the podium! Here's to many more!

Our TV streaming has ended right when DC has appeared on the podium :(

Kimi said he had no emotions after winning, then DC egged him on about how the crowd wanted to know it was to win a GP, and he said last time the press gave him shit for not smiling enough.

Then Seb dropped an F-bomb, which I also saw him do on Letterman. Was fun.

I really liked Kimi's "leave me alone, i know what i'm doing" comment to his engineer during race. :)

[quote=ErWin76;990212]I really liked Kimi's "leave me alone, i know what i'm doing" comment to his engineer during race. :)[/quote]

Indeed, that was also fantastic. What a guy.

Alonso may have won if he knew how to restart after the SC sessions, he cocked up both times.

Kudos to Kimi, he drove like a champ.

If I got that right, during the second SC period Button was told by his engineer that Ferraris need several laps to warm their tyres, and that seems true as Kimi drove away during those first post-SC laps, while Nando caught him up later. Actually, I was afraid he could have overtaken him if he had two-three more laps. Just not sure whether he would have taken the risk.

Great race, especially the last 10 laps or so.

Kimi Raikkonen - Great to see him win again.
Fernando Alonso - Unadultered driving talent while chasing Raikkonen, getting the tail out at every corner.
Sebastian Vettel - From last to 3rd. What else needs to be said?

[quote=Ferrer;990263]Sebastian Vettel - From last to 3rd. What else needs to be said?[/quote]

Red Bull allowed to re-gear the car when starting from pit lane, giving an already far-superior car an even greater advantage over the second tier, third tier, and also-ran teams.

Numerous cars crashing out in front of him.

Red Bull pitting Mark Webber to allow SV thru.

[quote=ringle;990290]Red Bull allowed to re-gear the car when starting from pit lane, giving an already far-superior car an even greater advantage over the second tier, third tier, and also-ran teams.
[/quote]

Granted, I am sure his qualifying setup would be faster for ultimate lap time than his race setup....

Ultimately though nothing helps as much as the safetycar period, the field bunched up together just makes them easier to pick off with his optimized for race setup...