Why would such an obvious penalty take so frigging long to be awarded if it was that easy? Sounds like something more is going on. Wonder what Horner will be suckling on at that dinner...
I would be disappointed if Vettel had no fuel remaining yet does not get handed the penalty Lewis Hamilton got in Spain. I think he'll get relegated to 10th though. Put him close to Alonso rather than destroying his race. It's they engineer these races. That said it wouldn't match the farce that is referees and Manchester United so they've still got a long way to go.
I'll be disappointed if Vettel has low fuel and doesn't start at the back, they are the rules (although I thnk demotion to 10th should be the penalty), and that is what they did to Hamilton when he did it.
Unless it was a proven mechanical failure which would have prevented him getting back to the pits, then a back of the grid penalty is the only thing that can happen. I would think he can get a decent haul of points. DRS will make up for perceived lack of normal straightline speed, though RBR's advantage isn't as clear cut here as it has been at the last few races.
I think you're jumping the gun with this one, Silver, but could this be Flonso's revenge? A-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaah!
Mountain to climb, he will be exiting the pit lane, when others are basically down to turn 1 or past it. --- Apparently it's just the back of the grid, so I would have selected 9th or 10th.
The tyres are proving durable but that's if your at the front controlling the pace.. He'll be going hell for leather from the start and in the turbulent air of the cars ahead so may be taking quite a bit more out of the tyres than the guys ahead, may mean he goes to a aggressive two stop race, can see him getting past HRTs, Maruusia and Caterhams easy enough, with their sister team in 16th and 15th, they shouldn't/won't make it too hard on him to get by, however after that, he's gonna struggle to get by the others that have a considerable top speed advantage, still think he grab some points but no more than a couple, so going for a 9th place finish. Ferrari showed good top end and Rae pace, think Alonso will get 4th maybe 3rd.. If correct, they'll be all square going into Austin!
Im thinking he'll run an odd strategy to avoid traffic and end up 7th. He'd probably need chaos to be able to catch, Webber, Kimi, the McLarens or the ferraris and well its abu dhabi so there wont be chaos.
Given that they will change the gearing and start from the pit lane on the fast and more durable tyre, switching o the soft for a short final stint - points are realistic - 8th as long as non of the top 6 come together or retire.