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Post by Anna on Oct 24, 2011 11:48:13 GMT
For all the news on the Indian GP.
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Post by Anna on Oct 24, 2011 15:25:13 GMT
Row threatens media coverage of India GP
"When they signed their accreditation form, they agreed to the terms and conditions"
Monday 24 October 2011 - 12h48, by GMM Another hurdle has been mounted ahead of India’s troubled preparation for its inaugural grand prix.
Amid talk the new Buddh circuit is barely ready for this weekend’s race, the Indian supreme court last week ordered that a quarter of the proceeds of the ticket sales be withheld over a tax dispute.
But the latest dispute could cost organisers Jaypee crucial national media coverage, and worryingly the row is with the sport’s powerful Formula One Management (FOM).
The Hindustan Times reports that Indian television channels are threatening to boycott covering the event because of FOM’s restrictive access to the race feed.
Jaypee’s communications boss Askari Zaidi warned reporters that they must cover the race.
"When they signed their accreditation form, they agreed to the terms and conditions, so I expect them to cover the event," he said.
He added that FOM is so restrictive when it comes to the television feed that even Jaypee, the promoter of the event and owner of the circuit, was denied access.
"We requested them to allow us to bring in cameras, but were refused. Even after we asked them to look into the matter, they refused, saying we could only buy a one minute feed of the race," said Zaidi.
It has been a troubled build-up for the Indian race, but motor sport clubs of India president Vicky Chandhok insists the organisers will learn for the future.
"India has never hosted such a big event. It’s the largest ever," he told the Times of India. "No IPL (cricket), no Commonwealth Games comes anywhere close to it."
So far all I've heard is problems with this damn race. At least with Korea it was just not being ready on time. With India they've had so many problems with peoples visas, with making sure that its safe, with making sure that the drivers can stay healthy etc, it better be a good weekend because so far all I've managed to do is get angry at them being unhelpful towards their own damn GP.
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Post by Anna on Oct 28, 2011 17:47:33 GMT
Lewis Hamilton sets the pace in India but is given three-place grid penalty By Simon Strang Friday, October 28th 2011, 06:04 GMT
Lewis Hamilton set the pace in first practice for the Indian Grand Prix, but was later given a three-place grid penalty for setting the time under waved yellow flags at Turn 16.
The Briton had waited until the last possible moment to lead the way in an eventful first free practice session for the Indian Grand Prix, but was caught out by the yellow flags - which were being waved for Pastor Maldonado's stationary Williams.
Red Bull looked to have made the perfect start to the weekend, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber having covered the first and second positions in the final moments, but that was until Hamilton's charging 1m26.836s lap put him top as the chequered flag fell.
The McLaren of Jenson Button was fourth fastest ahead of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg in the two Mercedes.
Perhaps appropriately it was Adrian Sutil's Force India that was the first Formula 1 car on track for the dry, sunny - and still dusty - opening session. He was followed out by the country's home-grown talent Karun Chandhok.
But no sooner had they got out on track than they were back in the pits again as the session was red-flagged to retrieve a stray dog that had wandered in to the action zone.
The track was made live again after five minutes and initially it was Chandhok, and his Indian rival Narian Karthekeyan who squabbled over the top spot. That was until Michael Schumacher came out and set a benchmark of 1m38.658s. A that mark was set to shrink by 12s before the end of the session.
Indeed Schumacher lopped four seconds off it himself just before the first half-hour was up.
Jaime Alguerusari moved to the top not long after Schumacher set that lap and would then spend the next 15 minutes improving his time as he fought off the attentions of Rosberg and his own Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastien Buemi.
Eventually Button emerged from the pit for a proper run at half distance moving the goalposts significantly with a 1m30.794s lap. This seemed to trigger a flurry of activity from the top men as Vettel also joined in. But the world champion's attempt was scuppered by a trip off-track at the Turn 5/Turn 6 section - something that would happen to several drivers as they learned the new layout.
Button remained top through the second half hour as several drivers joined the fray, but Fernando Alonso wasn't one of them. The Ferrari driver managing just four laps before he parked up off track, sidelined by an engine problem.
Hamilton moved to the top with 25 minutes to go lapping in 1m27.515s, as Vettel too moved ahead of Button. Webber's arrival in second then bumped the Englishman to fourth.
The last 15 minutes saw the Red Bulls move into familiar position as Webber kept his foot in to set a 1m27.428s, only to then watch the world champion steal his thunder with a 1m27.416s.
Things may have changed again, but a dramatic 10 minutes which saw Alguersuari thump the Turn 10 barrier with the rear of his Toro Rosso and engine problems for Pastor Maldonado render the circuit a yellow zone for much of it. Sergio Perez too made a run across the grass.
It was in the aftermath of all this, as the track finally cleared that Hamilton set his lap, with flags still apparently waving in the area of Maldonado's smoky Williams.
Behind the top six Felipe Massa was seventh fastest in the only operational Ferrari, sparking his way around the track with a new front wing. Sutil ended up eighth ahead of Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber.
Of the Indians in the field, Chandhok was 19th fastest for Lotus in the end, but was more than 1.6s off the pace of team-mate Jarno Trulli, while Karthikeyan was 22nd.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 01. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.836s 22 02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m27.416s + 0.580 23 03. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m27.428s + 0.592 27 04. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m28.394s + 1.558 23 05. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m28.531s + 1.695 23 06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m28.542s + 1.706 29 07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m28.644s + 1.808 22 08. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m28.705s + 1.869 23 09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m29.219s + 2.383 24 10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m29.355s + 2.519 29 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m29.700s + 2.864 24 12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m29.705s + 2.869 22 13. Bruno Senna Renault 1m29.799s + 2.963 20 14. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m30.132s + 3.296 25 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m30.367s + 3.531 21 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m30.566s + 3.730 19 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m30.699s + 3.833 22 18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m30.818s + 3.982 22 19. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m32.487s + 5.651 24 20. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m32.771s + 5.935 24 21. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m33.928s + 7.092 27 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m34.113s + 7.277 30 23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m35.896s + 8.960 19 24. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m35.899s + 9.063 4
All Timing Unofficial
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Post by Anna on Oct 28, 2011 17:47:59 GMT
Felipe Massa tops second Indian Grand Prix practice By Matt Beer Friday, October 28th 2011, 10:01 GMT
Felipe Massa put Ferrari on top as the Formula 1 teams continued to get to grips with India's Buddh International circuit in the second free practice session ahead of this weekend's inaugural grand prix in the nation.
While the Ferrari's new front wing continued to prompt distinctive showers of sparks as it vibrated again the track surface, the revised car showed promising pace, with Massa lapping the dusty track in 1m25.706s 18 minutes before the end of the session to claim the top spot.
His team-mate Fernando Alonso also showed well in third, 0.224 seconds off Massa's pace.
They were split by champion Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull had been quickest for the majority of the afternoon, until Massa's fast time saw the German pipped by 0.088s.
Morning pacesetter Lewis Hamilton, who will go into qualifying for a three-place grid penalty for disregarding yellow flags earlier today, was fourth quickest in the best of the McLarens, with his team-mate Jenson Button sixth behind Mark Webber's Red Bull.
Force India took 'best of the rest' honours in front of its effective home crowd thanks to Adrian Sutil's seventh place, two positions ahead of team-mate Paul di Resta, as they sandwiched Bruno Senna's Renault. Sebastien Buemi completed the top 10 for Toro Rosso.
The Mercedes were further back than usual in 19th (Nico Rosberg) and 21st (Michael Schumacher) - the seven-time champion having missed some of the session while an issue was resolved on his car.
There were plenty of small incidents as the drivers explored the track's limits, particularly at Turn 6, and one red flag after Jerome D'Ambrosio went off at Turn 11 and ended up backed his Virgin into the barriers, causing significant damage. He was unhurt and the session quickly resumed.
Petrov also had a spin in his Renault, while Pastor Maldonado dumped his Williams in the Turn 9 gravel early on but was retrieved in time to rejoin the session and complete 24 laps.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.706s 33 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.794s + 0.088 34 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.930s + 0.224 34 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.454s + 0.748 26 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m26.500s + 0.794 30 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.714s + 1.008 28 7. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m27.316s + 1.610 34 8. Bruno Senna Renault 1m27.498s + 1.792 36 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m27.853s + 2.147 35 10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.868s + 2.162 35 11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m27.890s + 2.184 37 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.050s + 2.344 34 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.289s + 2.583 36 14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.552s + 2.846 31 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m28.691s + 2.985 29 16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m28.708s + 3.002 24 17. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.332s + 3.626 39 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m30.241s + 4.535 41 19. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m31.098s + 5.392 38 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.469s + 5.763 32 21. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m31.804s + 6.098 28 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m32.593s + 6.887 12 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m32.768s + 7.062 33 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m32.824s + 7.118 33
All Timing Unofficial
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Post by Anna on Oct 28, 2011 17:48:24 GMT
Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez given three-place grid penalties after practice By Simon Strang Friday, October 28th 2011, 08:18 GMT
Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez have both received three-place grid penalties for Sunday's Indian Grand Prix after setting their fastest times under under waved yellow flags at the end of first practice.
According to a statement from the FIA, Hamilton was penalised for 'ignoring double waved yellow flags at Turn 16 whilst marshals were in close proximity to the track'.
The waved yellows were for Pastor Maldonado's stationary Williams, which had stopped with an apparent engine problem and was being attended to by track officials at the time that Hamilton and Perez set their best session times.
The penalty means that Hamilton can only hope to start from fourth position on the grid at best for the Indian Grand Prix.
Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert is serving as one of the stewards of the meeting this weekend.
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 21:15:54 GMT
FIA confirms provisional Indian GP grid By Jonathan Noble Saturday, October 29th 2011, 13:38 GMT
The FIA has confirmed the provisional grid for the Indian Grand Prix with the raft of penalties having left onlookers unsure about the exact order of positions after qualifying.
With no less than five drivers having penalties for technical or sporting penalties, it was left to the stewards to work through the rule book to confirm the line-up.
While Lewis Hamilton's three-place drop to fifth and Sergio Perez's similar demotion to 20th were fairly straightforward, the order behind was not so sure.
However, the stewards have ruled that Daniel Ricciardo's five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change means he will start from 22nd, while Narain Karthikeyan starts 23rd.
Timo Glock will start last because he failed to set a time within 107 per cent of the quickest time in Q1.
The full grid is:
Pos Driver Team 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 14. Bruno Senna Renault 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 16. Vitaly Petrov Renault 17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 20. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 22. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 24. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 22:10:36 GMT
This might be hours out but I'm about to watch Qualifying so I'll do some complaining about it in here .
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 22:12:54 GMT
So anyone who has seen most of the driving this season..... Is it impressive? I haven't seen anything yet .
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 22:17:24 GMT
Lovely tribute bit for Dan and Marco at the beginning, loved Marks words on Marco and so true.
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 22:24:23 GMT
Why? WHY? WHY?! Why do we have to REHEAR Sebi's radio I dislike it enough the first time round!
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Pete
F1 Fanatic
Petonyo
Posts: 215
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Post by Pete on Oct 29, 2011 22:26:51 GMT
So anyone who has seen most of the driving this season..... Is it impressive? I haven't seen anything yet . Meh . Looks like it could be alright, better than some we've seen recently.
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Amanda
F1 Fanatic
#WINNING
Posts: 213
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Post by Amanda on Oct 29, 2011 22:30:09 GMT
Lovely tribute bit for Dan and Marco at the beginning, loved Marks words on Marco and so true. It was though it was kind of ruined by Sir Jackie afterwards. Not sure why but he just makes me angry for small silly reasons.
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 22:39:07 GMT
So.... We're racing in a country where most of the population doesn't even know what the sport is?
Whereas some countries who have had many GPs and that racing is in their blood might lose/have lost/maybe never had a GP.
As lovely as the track might be, as much money as it might bring... Is that really right?
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 22:48:46 GMT
Lovely tribute bit for Dan and Marco at the beginning, loved Marks words on Marco and so true. It was though it was kind of ruined by Sir Jackie afterwards. Not sure why but he just makes me angry for small silly reasons. I got why they wanted to talk safety in motorsports and I know Dan will, for the paddock, be the closest one because most of these guys RACED Dan, but I don't think they should have talked safety WHILST paying tribute to TWO deaths because Jackie felt like he didn't even know who Marco is. He might not, but he didn't have to mention it at all. They should have paid tribute then talked to Jackie separately about safety and stuff. So anyone who has seen most of the driving this season..... Is it impressive? I haven't seen anything yet . Meh . Looks like it could be alright, better than some we've seen recently. Thank you Pete. Why does Bernie have to S*** on other circuits just because another gives him a lot of money. Silverstone might not ever be first class compared to a country who puts millions into the tinest bit of the track, but its still a first class track. I just hate how he can't even be a little bit nice towards some of these tracks who deliver decent races year in year out. Just because they aren't pretty, just because they aren't buying his daughter a new wardrobe doesn't mean they don't deserve praise. Actually its these tracks that keep F1 as important as it is.
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Post by Anna on Oct 29, 2011 23:02:16 GMT
Why do we have to listen to this? Oh diddums, Lotus didn't let Karun have a race this weekend so now he has to leave? Grow up EJ.
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