Just out of curiosity, where did you get that from, the bit about the reprimands? It's not on the FIA On-Event pages (hardly surprising because they're neanderthal in typing stuff up and publishing it) and I haven't found it on F1 website either!
I hope so. Grosjean should be starting the race lighter if the Renault engine is as efficient as they say it is, I'm hoping he can make a nuisance of himself. I think Mercedes will be slower in the race, they've probably run with more wing knowing their DRS will drop it from both the front and rear, McLaren last year run high wing to make the most of DRS in qualifying. Only positive of DRS in my opinion, it splits the teams on strategy.
Good Quali overall, will be interesting to see what Grosjean and Mercedes can do, as well as a Red Bull come back maybe !
The tags for this thread.. are amazing. Anyway, what do people think of Nico's performances today, a potential pole? he dumped his left side into the gravel, but gave a good performance on the whole. Is the pressure of being in a higher position in terms of team performance, and Michael Schumacher supposedly taking the reigns of the team with Ross Brawn getting to him? A sign or an anomaly, what do you think? I reckon it is not a big deal personally, he will come back through the field tomorrow.
Rosberg would've been 3rd without the error I think. Good to see that one lock up has plunged him from 3rd to 7th, last year a similar mistake would've seen him just drop below his team mate.
I would not say that, it is just like any component of a F1 car like the double diffuser or f-duct. What it does though is even out the field a bit more which is very good and looks like we could get a very exciting season as a result.
I shouldn't have said that. Jinxed myself and fell asleep, missing both FP3 and quali :| Now after watching it on the re-run, I am mighty excited for the race. What a nice and interesting change among the front running teams. I really hope that Räikkönen will find his speed as I love his persona. Happy to see that Schumi seems to be finding it easier this year. I suspect it has a lot to do with the ebd ban, as the cars are now more like what he used to drive in his "first career". Massa appears to not have been able to shake off the pressure, which I think is the main reason for his untidy driving. Vettel doesn't look happy which is good for Webber and will help him get on top of his game again(less pressure, same issues as Massa). Senna has to me looked faster than Maldonado all weekend up until Q2, don't know what happened there. McLaren not only having the sexiest looking car(by miles), but also appears to have found a LOT of performance. I can see a WDC battle between Button and Hamilton, and hopefully Mercedes keep progressing and allow Rosberg and Schumi to frequent the podium. Unfortunately I think Ferrari will be struggling throughout the season due to lack in the tech dept, though Alonso will surely still be a serious contender for the title as always with consistent top 5 finishes. Like a kid on Christmas eve indeed! And I too don't understand where all the crofty hate comes from. I love him. His voice and commentary is great!
Graphical representation from F1Fanatic of how the field has closed up in 2012 based on how far behind pole each driver was in the 2011 (blue) and 2012 (green) Australian GPs. please log in to view this image
Well, the Adam Cooper quote of the twitter feed is questionable - backwards, even. According to the F1 website Kovalainen is under investigation for impeding de la Rosa (and Karthikeyan was under investigation for impeding ALonso)
The F1 website has reversed their original statement of the Kovaleinen/de la Rosa incident to now say that de la Rosa impeded Kovaleinen. They have also announced that de la Rosa has received a reprimand for impeding Kovaleinen. Karthhikeyan has received a reprimand for impeding Alonso. The other case under investigation (Ricciardo allegedly impeding Schumacher) resulted in no action being taken. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/3/13114.html Rule 18.2 of the Sporting Regulations states, on the subject of reprimands (imposed under Rule 16.3.d of the Sporting Regs.): "Any driver who receives three reprimands in the same Championship season will, upon the imposition of the third, be given a ten grid place penalty at that Event. If the third reprimand is imposed following an Incident during a race the ten grid place penalty will be applied at the driver’s next Event. The ten grid place penalty will only be imposed if at least two of the reprimands were imposed for a driving infringement." Reprimands are not subject to appeal. And I guess that impeding another driver is a driving infringement !
I'd still argue these penalties are irrelevant to HRT. A 10-place grid drop from last is still last, unless they make them start from the 33rd and 34th grid slots - which I'd be in favour of! HRT can effectively get in the way of who they want, and be as much of a danger on the track as they like, without any meaningful penalty. I suppose the rules have to be the same for everyone, but it still doesn't seem fair that HRT receive no disadvantage.
