2012 Formula One Korean Grand Prix

[Sérgio Marques]

Apparently Hamilton did have a small defect on his rear suspension, hence the lackluster performance.
Should be good for this weekend.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103277

McLaren again failing in details with their drivers.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Scarbs going through the latest updates,

 

[Hamed]

Formula1 2012 Korean Grand Prix Drivers Press Conference

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Free Practice 1

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap on Friday morning as practice got under way at the Korea International Circuit. Hamilton set the time of 1:39.148 in the final seconds of the session, narrowly extending the advantage he already had

As usual on a dirty track, running in the first half hour was largely limited to installation laps. Four reserve drivers were taking part in the session: Valtteri Bottas for Williams; Guido van der Garde at Caterham; Jules Bianchi for Force India; and Dani Clos at HRT, the only man to set a time in the first 20 minutes was Bottas. His lap of 1:45.225 was six seconds off the fastest race lap of 2011. It was soon eclipsed by Jenson Button, who lowered the benchmark to 1:41.395. Gradually the pitlane became busier as the track cleaned up, and by the halfway mark, most drivers were lapping.

One driver late into the running was Timo Glock. Marussia opted to change his steering rack after the installation lap. Later in the session Bottas would have the floor of his Williams removed for inspection but otherwise the session passed without incident.

Though most drivers were struggling for grip, times fell throughout the session. At the hour mark Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso had lowered the benchmark to 1:39.857, only to be replaced by Hamilton in the last 15 minutes of the session. The final order had Hamilton ahead of Alonso by three-tenths. Mark Webber was third for Red Bull, ahead of Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel was fifth in the second Red Bull, ahead of the two Mercedes, with Michael Schumacher shading Nico Rosberg. Romain Grosjean was eighth for Lotus, Paul di Resta ninth for Force India and Jenson Button rounded out the top ten in the second McLaren.

Source: FIA

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Free Practice 2

Red Bull Racing charged to the top of the timesheets in the second practice session ahead of this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix

Having taken third and fifth places respectively in the opening session, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel found more pace in the afternoon, with Vettel moving to the top of the standings and Webber finishing just three hundredths of a second behind his team-mate in second place.

Indeed, after Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa had briefly both held top spot in the early part of the session, the Red Bull pair seized control and were never headed again. Webber and Vettel regularly traded positions but it was the defending champion who claimed the honours late on.

Closest to the Red Bulls was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari ending the afternoon three tenths shy of Vettel’s time. Fourth place was taken by Jenson Button who recorded a time 0.387 adrift of the Red Bull man and Michael Schumacher finished fifth.

There were few problems during the session, with only Sauber’s Sergio Pérez’s hitting trouble. The Mexican driver pulled over halfway through the session with an actuator problem that ended his day’s work.

Source: FIA

 

[Michael Brown]

Fantastic track, but it's so dusty because F1 only uses it, and it's about 4 hours from the nearest hotel.

Also, the pit entry and exit is probably the worst of all time. The pits should be on the left side of the track because that makes entry and exit easier. Also, because the grandstands are on the left side of the track the crowd gets a face full of sun.

 

[Markus Neumann]

Arrest warrant issued for Force India chief Vijay Mallya

Looks like being a member of Force India is a surefire way of getting into trouble with the law

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

Once the APPA Head Gets the Warrant
Mr.Mallaya will be in JAIL at my Home town.

 

[Trebor901]

Force India will fold if he goes to prison

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Again we see Hamilton mysteriously off-pace... bit weird i have to say.
I doubt he´s lost his mojo from FP1 to FP2 and another strange thing was footage of Hamilton on track, it then shifted to Titmarsh smiling then suddenly stopped smiling when he realized he was being broadcasted..

Anyway, coolest thing of the whole session was the slow-mo of the Renault, you could see the sparks exit below the diffuser and interact with the airflow, extremely cool!!

 

[Hamed]

Formula1 2012 Korean Grand Prix Practice One

Formula1 2012 Korean Grand Prix Practice two

 

[Metalfreaky]

Arrest warrant issued for Force India chief Vijay Mallya

Looks like being a member of Force India is a surefire way of getting into trouble with the law

Will be interesting to see if wee see Mallya at the GO of India

 

[Diego Lopez]

Once the APPA Head Gets the Warrant
Mr.Mallaya will be in JAIL at my Home town.

can u visit him and get an autograph?

Again we see Hamilton mysteriously off-pace... bit weird i have to say.
I doubt he´s lost his mojo from FP1 to FP2 and another strange thing was footage of Hamilton on track, it then shifted to Titmarsh smiling then suddenly stopped smiling when he realized he was being broadcasted..

Anyway, coolest thing of the whole session was the slow-mo of the Renault, you could see the sparks exit below the diffuser and interact with the airflow, extremely cool!!

As the trend have gone in the past few seasons with RB, after Singapore 95% of the rest of the tracks are a walk in the park for the redbulls, somehow, so I'm not even goign to bet against the RB winning both titles...unless reliability goes in.

 

[Markus Neumann]

Again we see Hamilton mysteriously off-pace... bit weird i have to say.
I doubt he´s lost his mojo from FP1 to FP2 and another strange thing was footage of Hamilton on track, it then shifted to Titmarsh smiling then suddenly stopped smiling when he realized he was being broadcasted..

Are you honestly suggesting McLaren sabotaged their own driver?

 

[Carlos Luna]

A lot of drivers couldn't stop locking up the tires heading into T1, i'm sure we'll see a lot of that in the race as well. Not sure what to make of the fact that this track is only open when F1 is in town.

Again we see Hamilton mysteriously off-pace... bit weird i have to say.
I doubt he´s lost his mojo from FP1 to FP2 and another strange thing was footage of Hamilton on track, it then shifted to Titmarsh smiling then suddenly stopped smiling when he realized he was being broadcasted.

I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous. Just because Hamilton has a bad session it means that McLaren is sabotaging him?

 

[Ivan Mills]

im sorry,but now is the perfect time to pay close attention to what happens at McLaren..and especially the LH section

ill put my money on Button in Q

 

[Diego Lopez]

brace yourselves...

for a disappointing qualifying...

just saying...

 

[James Maskell]

The man is back. Imagine what he could have done in japan if kimi had not droped his icecream.

 

[Mitchell Smith]

Anyone notice Massa was the one that blocked Seb? Ferrari strategy?

 

[Kevin Cordice]

Mclaren season, just Up's and Down's for the team. Wishing them better all the way to the end